


For Crown and Kingdom

by HarpyGirl606



Category: Juuni Kokki | Twelve Kingdoms
Genre: F/M, Forbidden Love, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Road Trips, Some Humor, Trust Issues, pyrokinesis
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:15:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 68,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21839581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HarpyGirl606/pseuds/HarpyGirl606
Summary: It has been 6 years since Asen the usurper stole the throne of Tai and began his reign of terror. It's been 6 years of disaster and starvation. So, after escaping his imprisonment, Gyousou Saku is going to need every skill he possesses to find Taiki and General Risai Ryushi (his soulmate) and fight Asen's armies in order to return Tai to prosperity.  Unfortunatly all he has to work with is a hunter with a mysterious secret and an overly friendly wolf dog. Can the three of them survive the vicious tribes of kikyaku, Asen's troops, and man eating Yoma.  Sound like fun?
Relationships: Risai/Saku Gyousou
Comments: 15
Kudos: 8





	1. Escape of the Unseen Prisoner

Escape of the Unseen Prisoner-

King Gyousou, the former General of the imperial army of the left, rode off with his troops to quell a rebellion in Bun province and was never seen again. Taiki, the black kirin of Tai disappeared some time later when a shouku occurred above the sea of clouds and demolished Hakei (White Jewel) Palace. It’s been 6 years since Gyousou and Taiki have gone missing.  
()()()())()()()()()()(()()()

There was only blackness. The cell was so deep underground that nothing of the outside world reached it’s interior. No light, no sound, or even a breeze, the rectangular room was buried so deep in the earth that the temperature was utterly unaffected by the changing of the seasons. The temperature remained above freezing yet cold enough to leech the warmth form his body. The only means or measuring time in this lightless unchanging abyss was the sound of the irregular dripping of water as moisture in the air condensed of the cool stone of the ceiling. 

There is a weighty metallic sound of a lock being turned. The massive metal door swings inward ponderously. In the sheer pitch blackness of the sell the single candle that the warden holds seems to blaze with the intensity of the noonday sun. 

The cells lone occupant hangs suspended from the ceiling by the chains attached to the manacles around his bony wrists. His head is slumped forward on his chest. His hair and beard are matted with grime, they fall past his waist, and drape around his face like flea ridden curtness. His clothing was some shade of gray or brown nominally, stained with blood and human filth. His once muscular frame is now withered and atrophied form starvation and immobility. His shirt hangs open revealing an emaciated torso marked with many scars, some old some new. Ribs stand out in sharp contrast in the flickering light of the candle as the man's diaphragm expands and contracts in time with his shallow breaths. He’s pants hang loosely from skeletal hips. Below the cuffs of the rotting fabric his bare feet also bare the marks of torture. 

The slate gray metal scales of the warden’s armor clink as he steps in to the room. He half hummus and half mutters a jaunty drinking song abut a cortisone and a hanju as he sets his candle on the top of the heavy wooden table in the center of the room along with a tray of steaming hot roasted meat in a thick gravy sauce along with soft golden brown rolls. The table is massive; it is the length of a tall man with leather restrains for wrists, upper arms, ankles, chest, neck and forehead. The massive table has many scars and dark stains and there are many knives of various lengths stabbed in its wooden surface

The warden is a man in his mid fifties, a thin physically fit man, tall and broad shouldered. Most of his hair had gone gray. His skin is a soft brown like old parchment, which contrasts with his long scraggly white beard. Overall the warden’s appearance evoked images of kindly uncle or grandfather. However, one look at the man's soulless black eyes, dancing with giddy fantasies of sadistic pleasure would dispel any such comparisons. 

His name was Quanlu before he’d been promoted to the warden ship of this facility he’d been an “information procurement specialist” for the imperial army of the right’s intelligence branch under Lord general Asen Jou, the usurper who now sat upon the throne of Tai. He’d received his promotion as a reward for his esteemed service and loyalty to the kingdom and to Lord Asen in particular. 

He used the candle to light a candelabra on the table. The cheery fire light from the candelabra illuminated the outlines of numerous torture devices through out the room a bull whip hangs from a hook on the wall, a flailed mace with spike covered chains, thumb screws and a rack to name a few. 

“Hello my old friend, How have you been since my last visit?” 

There is neither reply nor any movement for the suspended figure. The man’s head douse not even lift form his chest. 

“Ah, same as ever I see.” Quanlu said in fined concern nodding sagely as if his prisoner had replied.  
Quanlu suddenly seemed to remember the handle of the metal bucket suspended in the crook of his arm. 

“ Oh, yes I brought these Kouji pods. It’s been a wile since I last came but I remembered how chilly it can be down here.” He says as he beams up at the prisoner.

“ Marvelous plant the Kouji, dry out the seed pods and they burn like charcoal.” He mused as he emptied the red hot glowing lumps in to a small squat treasure by a rack of wicked looking iron pokers, some of witch were tipped with serrated blades or cured ends that looked like barbed fishhooks. 

“You already know all about Kouji of course.” He says as he looks at his prisoner fondly. “The blessing granted to the people by the magnificent person who lived in our great capital of Kouki.” He chuckled softly. “Yes the peasants still sing the parses of our former king for that one singular act. Giving then all a self-propagating charcoal substitute like that. 

“Actually they burn even longer and hotter than charcoal to be honest.” Quanlu selected one of the pokers, a simple straight spike with a series of barbs running down one side. He examined it lovingly before gabbing it in to the red hot Kouji pods. 

“Which is excellent for our purposes, don’t you think?” He asks cheerfully. 

The figure sits motionless, he’d slumped forward. His face remains hidden behind his filthy matted hair. 

“I’m simply going to start warming it up now so it’s ready when it’s time for our after dinner fun.” He said jovially turning back to the man. 

He removes his slate gray helmet and set’s it on the table by the food. Then he removes his gloves and hangs his black bear skin cloak across the back of the single chair next to the table. 

“I’m sure your grateful for a little heat now and then.” He says with a grandfatherly smile. “Now lets see about making you more comfortable.” 

Quanlu moved over to a device in the corner. He rotated a crank causing the chains to rattle almost musically through a series of pulleys as more chain is spooled out of the device. The chains holding him lengthen, gently lowering him to the cold damp stone floor of the cell.

The man flopped in to a sitting position as limply as a rag doll. 

“There you go then, it’s only polite to sit when sharing a meal with your guest, my lord.” He says smiling down at the limp figure. 

Quanlu walked back over to the table ad picked up the tray with his meal on it. He cheerfully walked back over to the prisoner, and bent down so the food was at the prisoner’s eye level. 

“It smells wonderful doesn’t it my lord?” Quanlu made a great show of inhaling the fragrance and enjoying the hearty sent of it. 

The shallow rise and fall of the man's chest was the only indication of life. 

Quanlu frowned at the lack of interest form his prisoner. Then he shrugged, walked the short distance back to the table and sat down. 

The warden straitens as if a sudden idea struck him. “Oh by the way a new prisoner we brought in mentioned that your old colleague general Risai Ryuushi was recently seen in Sai province. Off to rally whatever pathetic rebel force is left in the south I suppose. Imagine that! Personally I’m surprised she’s still alive after all this time.”

The prisoner slowly raised his head; his unfocused eyes peered out from under his matted hair. 

Quanlu grinned in satisfaction, seeing the man looking up and weakly attempting to make eye contact. He had been right to mention Risai. 

When Asen had handed the man over into his “care” he’d given Quanlu a set of four instructions with regard to this prisoner, one the prisoners very presence here was to be kept a secret, two make him suffer, three keep him alive, and four he was to send lord Asen regular reports about what he did to the prisoner. In keeping with his orders he'd probably send a report to the capital later. 

For some time now torturing him had been an exercise in boredom. The prisoner had been utterly unresponsive for years now. Perhaps he could illicit more of a reaction by using information about the rogue general to assault the prisoner in novel ways. It was rumored that the two had been close once and if all those rather tantalizing rumors were true it would make tonight’s exercises all the more fulfilling as he twisted the information he’d received about the lady general this way and that like a knife in the man’s insides, torturing the man’s psyche wile he did rather interesting things with to his body as well. 

“Though really I suppose it’s only a matter of time before the kings agents catch up with her.” He said with an indifferent shrug as malice sparkled in his eyes. 

He picked up his lacquered chopsticks and prepared to begin his meal. It really did smell delicious. Naturally he was going to eat it in front of the prisoner as he always did at the beginning of these sessions. He’d found over the years that food was so much more satisfying when eaten in front of someone who craved it more than you did. Hunger was the best spice as they say. He’d have to give him the scraps afterword, it had been a wile sense he’d fed the man and it wouldn’t do if he expired from the combination or starvation, blood loss and other physical afflictions. 

The warden was always careful not to deprive him of food or water for too long and only inflict just enough damage to the man’s body. 

The warden was an expert torturer or rather “information procurement specialist”. He’d worked in this business for decades and had quite the reputation as an expert in his field. Sennin, such as this prisoner, were often thought of as immortals and to an extent this was true. Of course it was a well known fact that sennin could be killed using charmed Tokijin weaponry. A blow form one of those needn’t even bee immediately fatal as a sennin could succumb from blood loss if they were cut with such a weapon. The wounds inflicted by the fangs and claws of demonic yoma could be similarly lethal. In fact Quanlu had several instruments down here edged with the claws and teeth of such beasts for that very reason. However, that was mere child’s play, far to sloppy and haphazard for Quanlu’s refined sense of professionalism, so he seldom used them. 

His true skill was in bringing a sennin to the very brink and keeping them there in that miserable state indefinitely. That was the skill that had made Asen recognize his talents and awarded him this cushy promotion. What most people didn’t realize was that if a sennin was sufficiently weakened, by starvation for example, they became susceptible to all kinds of things they wouldn’t normally be vulnerable to such as gangrenous wounds, and disease. In essence they became every bit as vulnerable as any mortal. Bringing such high and mighty “immortals” to their knees and making them beg for death gave Quanlu such joy. 

If the prisoner were to die then Asen would simply be out of luck. It wasn’t as though the prisoner had any particularly valuable nuggets of information in that head of his, it had to do with the kirin of Tai. If the prisoner were to give up the ghost then Taiki (where ever the hell he was) would choose a new king and then Asen would have to stage another coup all over again or give up the throne and that was about as likely as fruit pastry raining down from the sky in Quanlu’s estimation. 

His toothy grin widened as he continued speaking with out bothering to look at the man. “When they catch her I suppose one of two things will happen. They might kill her, or more likely they could send her to a place like this. Wouldn’t that be nice! The two of you could be together again!” He said cheerfully as he deposited a juicy piece of meat in to his mouth and chewed greedily. 

There was a sudden rattling of chains.

Quanlu looked up. One of the prisoner’s manacles dangled against the wall the, edges of the cuff glistening wetly with fresh blood. Quanlu’s brain can’t processes what he’s seeing at first. As he watched in horrified fascination as the man used his now unbound bloody hand to take hold of the remaining maniacal and pulled his other hand free. 

As the emaciated man hoisted himself to his feet Quanlu belatedly realized that the prisoner’s manacles no longer fit as tightly as they once did. Six years of deprivation had left the man’s hands and wrists are pretty much skeletal. Quanlu should have brought someone down here to make adjustments but how was he to know his prisoner had the will left to attempt an escape after all this time. For years the prisoner has been docile and has not so much as screamed no matter what the Quanlu did to him. Quanlu thought he’d finally reduced him to broken tamed thing, a mere shell of what he had once been. 

Blood glistens on the raw flesh of his hands where his skin was shaved off as he freed himself but he doesn’t seem to notice or care. Gyousou Saku, former general of the imperial army of the left and the rightful king of Tai shakily advanced on the warden with murder in his crimson eyes. 

The warden leaped backward instinctively, overcome with fear at the sudden change in his captive. He has never posted guards outside the door in order to maintain the secrecy of the king’s presence. Only a select few of his prison’s staff even know this cell exists. Further more no one knows he’s down here right now so calling for help would be futile. 

Thoughts skittered through Wardon Quanlu’s mind like terrified rodents. Why was this happening? What could have possibly triggered this sudden defiance form a man who up until a moment ago had been as docile as a corpse. 

Quanlu grabbed the poker knocking over the brazier and scattering the glowing Kouji pods. The poker had not been sitting in the coals long enough to glow red but the air around it shimmered with heat in the firelight. He was so confident that he’d broken the man so long ago that he has not even thought to come armed for these little visits.

Quanlu leaped to the opposite wall getting as far from Gyousou as possible. It didn’t matter that the man before him was a filth stained skeleton, the murderous intent radiating off of him was intense and over powering. 

Gyousou’s eyes coolly flicked to the door set in to the wall to Quanlu’s right, before turning back to regard his captor. Then Quanlu suddenly had a horrifying realization, when he’d entered the room he’d had his hands full and had forgotten to lock the door once he was inside the cell, and Gyousou knows this.

The two men stood at opposite ends of the room, with the door set in to the wall between them. If Quanlu was going to make a dash for the door he’d have to come toward Gyousou and the door itself was heavy and took a great deal of effort to move. Gyousou knew that Quanlu would have to use both hands and stand with his back to him to open the door once he reached it. 

Gyousou didn’t say a word, “Just try it.” was what he conveyed with the disdainful look in his eyes alone. 

Quanlu felt like he’d suddenly found himself cornered by a wild yoma. It didn’t matter that he was in better physical condition than Gyousou, turning his back on the man for even an instant would be fatal. Then he realized something else, Gyousou would similarly have to turn his back on Quanlu in order to reach the door open, if he even could what with how his body had atrophied over the years of his captivity. 

Quanluu held the poker up in front of him defensively the realization banishing his animalistic terror, causing his courage to return. He wasn’t dumb enough to come running up to his enemy but Gyoyosu would have to attack him in order to escape. With the poker in hand he had the greater reach. The moment the kings emaciated body came in to striking range Quanlu would deliver bone crushing blows that would slam him to the floor and have him writhing tin agony. 

“So, what exactly was your plan my lord?” Quanlu jeered as a grin spared across his face. “You can’t escape, you have to know that.”

Gyousou made no reply as he moved up to the table in the center of the room and wrapped his right hand around the hilt of one of the knives jammed in to it’s surface. He locked eyes with Quanlu as he wordlessly pulled the blade free. 

Fear welled in Quanlu again. His weapon had the longer reach and Gyousou couldn’t hope to match him with just a knife, he could barley walk let alone fight. Why was the king so calm? 

“You won't even get past the prison walls and even if you did, what could you possibly accomplish on your own in the state your in? You may as well give up right now!” he shouted as his confidence frayed away. 

Gyousou’s eyes stayed locked with Quanlu’s. He said nothing has he held his free hand up open palmed beside the flickering flames of the candelabra. Quanlu watched as his hand hovered there in the air for an impossibly long moment. Suddenly Gyousou knocked the candelabra off the table. The candle flames flickered and spluttered as they turned end over end in free fall before spluttering out due to the sudden acceleration.  
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()))()()()()()()

The cell was plunged back in to pitch-blackness. 

Gyousou could distinctly hear the sound of the wardens panicked breathing. He’d been in the blackness of this cell long enough that his other senses have become heightened. He doesn’t need to see to know where the warden is.  
  
He flung his right are forward in an arch, letting the knife fly free of his hand. There was a rush of air, a thud of steel going in to flesh and then a strangled squealing cry, followed by the sound of a body collapsing. Then there was the resonant metallic clang as the iron poker fell out of limp hands. 

Soundlessly Gyousou walked over on bare feet. He squatted down beside the warden’s slumped body. He’d fallen with his back against the wall, the knife had lodged deep into the man’s throat. The warden was barely managing to gasp for breath as he literally drowned on his own blood. 

Gyousou grabbed the knife by the hilt and gave it a tug but failed to pull it free. The warden weekly grabbed him by his bony wrist.  
  
“Why? How?” The warden asked plaintively gurgling as blood pooled in his lungs.  
  
Gyousou pulled the knife free. Blood gushed liberally from the man’s throat as his life ebbed away.  
  
“Because she still lives.” His voice sounded week and creaked with disuse but it still resonated with rage and defiance.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

It was like emerging form a long jagged edged nightmare. He had no idea how long he’d been down here. When he’d first been brought down here, a life time ago he’d partitioned his mind, he'd taken his dignity his pride, love and hate, every thing that had made him who and what he was and sealed it away safe and secure behind walls of mental armor where nothing could touch it. It was a technique he’d been taught long ago to resist torture. What had happened to him since then and now was an indistinct blur of darkness, and occasional delirium brought on by the complete isolation, punctuated by excruciating pain. But now, the fact that Risai was out there, alive and still resisting the traitor Asen, that had been enough to bring him back, revive him form his self imposed half coma and fight. 

His atrophied limbs buckled beneath him. He chose to sit down beside the man’s corpse rather than risk falling as he took a series of deep breaths to steady himself. He allowed himself a moment’s respite in the familiar darkness before gritting his teeth and setting himself to the task at hand, escape. 

He wasn’t worried about someone walking in on him. If his fragmented memory of his time in this torture chamber is any indication, the warden tended to spend hours down here with him during his “visits”. Gyousou was reasonably certain that no one but the warden knew about his cell. He can’t remember the warden bringing any other people down in to the cell with him but he’s not certain. In any event didn’t think it was likely any one would come looking for the warden for a few hours but he still had to work under the assumption that time was his enemy. 

Still shrouded in the complete darkness Gyousou stripped off the warden’s armor, and then his many layers of clothing. He quickly layered the warden’s clothing over his own prison rags. Fortunately, the warden’s uniform was black and the bloodstains were not obvious. The warden was not an especially big man. He was about Gyousou’s height and rather thin. The layered clothing helped conceil Gyousou’s skeletal form making him look mearly skinny instead. 

Next he removed the man’s boots and slipped his own bare feet in to them, he found they were a tighter fit than he would have liked. He fumbled with the straps as he pulled on the man's slate gray armor over the black clothing of the uniform. He wondered about the color scheme. The army of the left wore black armor over green uniforms, the army of the right wore white over blue, the army of the center gold over red, and the provincial armies wore brown armor over various color tunics indicating which province they belonged to. He didn’t remember there being any armed unit that wore gray armor over a black uniform. 

He sighed, any further musings would have to weight until he was safely away form this nightmare. 

He grunted and tenderly rubbed the back of his right hand. He’d scraped both of his hands raw earlier when freeing himself. The fresh injuries still stung but there was no help for it now. 

He pulled heavy matted mess that was his hair over his shoulder and examined it in the dark. The sheer ludicrous length of it provided a clue as to how long he’d been here. It had grown down to his waist and was filthy and full of clumps, he didn’t even want to think about how long it had been since he’d bathed. 

He took his knife in hand and hacked at the clumped and matted mess of his hair till it was just past his shoulders, more or less. It was likely the worst haircut he’d ever had but he was rid of the unpleasant weight on the back of his head, and it wasn’t as though any one would be able to see it once he put the warden’s helmet on. Next his beard, he checked multiple times to make sure it was the same length as the wardens when he finished. One bearded man had walked in to this cell, and another bearded man would walk out. It was an amateurish plan at best but it was the best he could come up with on such short notice. He supposed he should be grateful that his jailer hadn’t been a fat man otherwise this wouldn’t have a prayer of working. 

He grabbed the black bear skin cloak off the back of the wardens chair and put it on along with the gloves and helmet. His hands ached as he pulled the leather gloves on over the open soars. He strapped on the helmet next and then patted his hip to make sure the warden’s keys were still secure in the pouch hanging form the dead man’s belt. 

After a moment he quickly stuffed a few mouth full’s of food in his face and drank some water from the jug on the tray the warden had brought with him. He was ravenous but time was not on his side. 

()())()()))())()()()()  
  
It was fortunate the warden had been too distracted or too foolish to lock the door behind him once he’d entered the cell, But Gyousou wasn’t about to complain. He gripped the rough iron handle with both hands and pulled. He strained with his shoulders and back throwing his rather diminished weight against it. Ponderously, almost grudgingly the door opened. 

He already knew that he would not have to face guards immediately out side the cell, however he is surprised to find that out side his cell there is nothing but a windowless room that is barley big enough to turn around in. 

He runs his gloved hands over the outer surface of the door to his cell and find that it has the same rough texture as the stone walls of this room. He pulls the door closed and runs his hands along it. The seems are difficult to find and the key hole is even more illusive. 

There is no light a only a diluting of black fading in to a lighter gray from a stair filled tunnel ascending from this tiny chamber. The tunnel is narrow enough that he could easily touch both sides without fully extending his arms. This explained why the warden always had a candle with him. Undaunted he took a deep breathe and began to climb the stairs. 

There were a lot of stairs. They seemed to go upward for miles; he had to stop at least twice to catch his breath. He did not know how long he’d been down in that black cell, but clearly it had been too long. The are becomes warmer as he climbed. As he continued to trudge upward he looked up to see slivers of light coming threw the darkness from around a rectangular door frame. He hurried up the remaining stairs.  
  
()()()()()()()()(  
The door opens effortlessly. He was at the back of a walk-in closet. There are spare coats and boots and other miscellaneous items. He closes the door to the stairs soundlessly. The door blends seamlessly with the wall. Gyousou was impressed by the amount of effort used to conceal his cell. There was more light and warmth beyond the closet. His subterranean prison was always so dank and cold. There's something else, beyond this closet he can hear the sound of rain.  
  
He opened the door and found the wardens office. There was a fire in the fireplace and multiple candelabras, this is where the light is coming from. Papers were strewn on the desk, and there was a cot in the corner. The windows positioned behind the desk reveal that it is a dark and stormy night. Freezing rain is coming down in sheets. There is a sheathed sword hanging off a sword belt that has been carelessly slung off the back of the warden's chair. Gyousou took in all these details in at a glance. The warden must have told the prison staff he would be in his office and he was not to be disturbed. Seeing the cot in the corner, Gyousou figures that the staff must assume the warden sleeps in his office regularly. This is why the warden had never been interrupted. This was why no one else had ever come down to his cell since the day he was brought here. No one in this prison save he warden and possibly a hand full of his most trusted guards knew he was here. And now the warden would rot beneath this prison his body undiscovered for Tentei knew how long.  
He looked out the windows. it was impossible to tell how many more hours of darkness he had. This was clearly not good weather to travel in but there’s no choice he has to get as far from this place as possible before any one discovers any thing is amiss.  
  
He rummaged around in the warden's desk as quietly as he could manage desperately searching for a map. He needed to know exactly where in Tai he was so he'd know where he could run to. there was a slight noise, possibly the shifting of papers. Gyousou looked up only to find maps pinned to the opposite wall facing the desk. Apparently the warden liked being able to survey his domain form his "seat of power". Gyousou moved over to the large map and discovered that he was in one of the northern most provinces, Bun province specifically. His heart sank at the realization the was far from Risai. There was something else, according to the map this facility is called Dingyu prison. He does not recognize this prisons name and he does not remember their being a prison here, in the mountains of Bun province far from any other settlement. There were rumors about the previous king, his predecessor the Vain King, having a secret prison for political prisoners. It's possible that this could be that prison.  
  
He set his jaw and turned back to the warden's desk. He found a blank sheet of paper and quickly wrote a note, saying that he was to be given a horse and that he's been ordered to take a message to the royal palace. He stamped it with the wardens official seal. The warden and Asen are probably close, given that Aesn trusted the warden with Gyouso's imprisonment. So, it's possible that the warden corresponds with the palace regularly. Gyousou knew he was making a huge gamble, but it couldn't be helped. Gyousou grabbed the sword hanging off the back of the warden’s chair. It was a nice sword. Probably presented to the warden by Asen for all his "loyal service". Gyousou's blood boils at the thought. He buckled the sword belt around his waist, after making a new puncture on the belt so it fit securely around his bony frame. He sighed in frustration over his pathetic physical state, but there was no point dwelling on the matter.  
  
. He took a few deep breaths to steady his nerves. He straightend his back and shoulders in to the confident posture of a man of athority. This was once as natural to him as breathing, now his very freedom depended on his ability to project athority as he once did. He opened the door, and walked past the guards with a selfasured stride. Gyousou said nothing and did not make eye contact. The guards were half asleep and saluted nervously as he walked by. Gyousou sighed inwardly with releaf as he continued to walk away like he owned the place. He was lucky the warden had a beard not to unlike his and that the lighting was poor in these halls. He memorized the layout of the prison from one of the warden’s maps. He just has to walk past the mess hall and then out in to the stables, and then freedom.  
  
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()(  
It seemed that the vast majority of the prison’s staff had gathered in the mess hall for an evening meal. There is raucous singing and laughter. Gyousou does not bother stopping for provisions. There’s to high a risk someone will notice he’s not a member of the prison staff. There were a few things that could kill an immortal, but starvation wasn’t one of them. 

He went out to the stables.  
A man emerged form the darkness of the stables and held up a hand. “What do you think you doing?”he demanded. He was big and barrel chested with a thick beard. He was a unarmored but wore the same black uniform as the other prison staff.  
“The stable master.” Gyousou thought absently.  
There was no way Gyousou could fight this guard in the shape he’s in.  
“I was ordered to take a message to the capital tonight.” Gyousou said with his raspy creaking voice.  
The guard looked at him skeptically. “Let me see your orders.” He demanded.  
Gyousou handed him the note. The guard bent his head over the note and frowned. Gyousou slowly maneuvered up behind him. Suddenly he snaked his left arm around and covered the mans mouth to prevent him from screaming. Gyousou slid his knife out of his sleeve and straight in to the mans back, plunging it through fabric and skin and straight in to the mans kidney. The guard fell to his knees.His eyes rolled back in thier sokets and he died soundlessly. Gyousou aquwardly dragged the large man on to a pile of straw at the back of the stable, lay him down on his back, and closed the man's eyes. Hopefully if any one found his corpse, they would think he is sleeping on the job.  
  
He stood up and collapsed against the stables wall gasping to catch his brethe again. He was so annoyingly week from his imprisonment. It was going to take time for him to get this streangth and stamina back, but Risai was alive and out there looking for him.  
  
He was going to get out of her, and then he would go south and find Risai and Taiki. He knew Taiki must still be alive somewhere. Taiki had to be alive because Gyousou was still alive. A monarch only lived about a year after the death of their Kirin. He did not know how long he’d been imprisoned but he sensed it had been more than a year since he’s seen the sky. He slammed his fist against the wall and forces himself to stand up.  
  
He is going to find Risai and together they will find Taiki. That thought alone gives him the strength to get back on his feet. He checked to make sure he hadn’t been seen by anyone other than the dead man. After some inspection he found that there were no Keiju in the stables. He selected the fastest looking horse saddled it and pull himself on top of it. The process took much longer that he wold have liked.  
Now mounted, he trotted to the outer wall.  
There were only two guards on the ground in front of the gate and there were another two in turrets on the wall on either side of the gate. Both of the guards on the ground were standing beneath a tarp by a brassier of burning koji pods to one side of the gate. They were silhouetted by the red light of the brassier. They looked up at the sound of the horses hooves.  
“Hault!” The older of the two called as he picked up his sword. In the glow of the coals Gyousou could make out the lines of a crossbow on his back.  
“Easy!” He called back in his raspy voice. “I’m to carry a message from the warden.” He says by way of explanation.  
“Oh.” The older footman said his posture became a lot more relaxed. he turned back to the younger gaurd , who’d stayed by the brassier.  
“It’s another late night message run.” He said to the younger guard.  
“Hey you up there!” He called to the men on the gate. “The warden is sending another late night dispatch to the capital!”  
“On a knight like this?” One of the men called down.  
“Yes.” Gyousou confirms.  
“All right we’re raising the portcullis, this won't take long.” The man above called down. There was a rattling of chains and the grinding of unseen gears.  
“Hay you.” The younger guard said. Gyousou stiffened in his saddle. “You okay? You sound like your coming down with something.”  
“It’s fine” Gyousou says bluntly. The raspiness of his voice covering any tinge of nervousness that might have slipped in.  
“Still to be riding out on a night like this, that’s rough.” The younger man continued.  
“Well the warden is an odd one,” the older guard said. “He’s fond of sending correspondence late at night, but sending a messenger out in this weather, now that's odd.”  
Gyousou shrugged casually. “It can't be helped.” He said simply.  
The portcullis was still rising slowly.  
Ht older guard squints up at him. “Hay what was your name again?”  
“Ping Fong.” Gyousou answered. The name had no particular significance , he’d just made it up on the spot.  
the younger man grabs a lamp off of the table by the brassier and brings it over to them. The older guard lifts it up to Gyousou‘s face.  
“I don’t recognize you.” The older man says.  
“I was transferred here recently.” Gyousou explained. He sensed that something had gone very wrong and the storm was about to break.  
Suddenly both gate guards drew their swords.  
“We haven’t had any one transfer here in over a year!” The older guard bellowed. 

  
Gyousou drew his stolen sword. It felt heavier than it should have been, no doubt due to the state his body was in.  
The older guard opened his mouth to shout something to the men on the wall who are working to raise the portcullis. Gyousou, didn’t allow him to get a word out. He kicked the horse into rearing up. Both of them jumped back but the older guard wasn’t quite fast enough. The horse's hoof collided with his chest, there was a wet crunch as the older man was sent sprawling. The younger guard was right in front of him as the horse came back to all fours.  
He was in his late twenties, and had large scared looking brown eyes. He went down after one strike form Gyousou‘s sword, blood gushing from his neck. There as no time to dwell on it. He kicked the horse in to a full on gallop and rushed out of the gate. He ducked low in the saddle to avoid the spikes of the portcullis.  
He herd an alarm bell ringing somewhere behind him a few seconds later. 

()()()()()()()()()()()()()  
Later.  
  
Gyousou was not steering the horse. He was exhausted. He was simply letting the horse run wildly. There were a dozen riders behind them. They had lamps strapped to the their saddles. The freezing rain lashed his face like a thousand stinging whips. He was so cold his teeth were chattering. Arrows sail past his head. The panicking horse flew through the pine forest. Gyousou had left the road some time ago. He lost his way what seems like hours ago. He heard the riders from the prison closing in on him and theirs also the baying of hunting dogs.  
  
Suddenly the horse pitched forward. Gyousou was thrown from the saddle. He tucked his arms over his head and rolled when he hit the ground but his bony body did not absorb the impact well. He felt ribs break. He staggered back up, filthy freezing and injured.  
“My left arm feels broken.” He thought.  
The horse whinnied in terror and pain. He stood up and looks over at it. The horse broke its leg in a pothole. Gyousou staggered away hearing the riders getting closer. The hunting dogs barked in excitement.  
  
He ran as best as he could his lungs were burning and his throat was raw.  
He cursed his weakened body. The roaring of a nearby river echoes in his ears form somewhere up ahead. He headed toward it hoping to throw the dogs off his sent. The sound of rushing water gets loader and loader. Half blind with rain and fatigue he found himself staggering out of the trees and suddenly he was standing on a cliff. Down below an impressive waterfall cascaded in to a deep ravine. White water rapids marred the surface of a fast flowing river swollen with the icy rainwater. All this stretched below him.  
  
A dejected sigh escaped him.  
He unsheathed the stolen sword and thrust it in to the earth. Then he removed the sword belt and threw it aside. Next he discarded the helmet and cloak. He pulled out the knife he used to kill the warden and used it to cut off the straps holding the wardens armor to him, his fingers were too numb to untie them properly. He stood there in the wardens black tunic and pants. He held on to the knife and pulled the sword out of the ground with his right hand.  
  
He was too week to fight in armor, he lacked the muscle mass and stamina he once had. He knew he would probably die tonight, and maybe that was for the best. Once he was dead Taiki would be free to choose a new ruler, a stronger ruler. One who would not fail as spectacularly as he had.  
  
He glared resolutely forward. “I will die but I will fight and take as many with him as possible and when I cannot fight any more I will throw himself off the cliff and end it rather than be captured.” He thought to himself. “I will not be taken captive again.”  
  
The riders and dogs broke through the tree line.   
  
“We’ll give you one chance to surrender old man!” One of the men shouts. Bows were drawn with arrows ready to fire.  
  
“Do you know who I am?” Gyousou asked, his voice sounds more like a wheeze.   
  
The guards looked confused. Then Gyousou answered his own question trying to put more force and authority in to his words. “ I am Gyousou Saku! I am your right full king!”  
  
There was nervous laughing from the guards. “He’s crazy!” one of the younger guards shouted.  
“Sure you are, and I’m the Queen of Kyou!” said another.  
  
“Alright guys, drop him, but don’t kill him.” the group’s leader ordered.  
  
Arrows were released. He was able to deflect a few with one swing of his sword. A few missed one buried it’s shaft in his left shoulder, one in his thigh and one in the left side if his ribcage. All nonlethal wounds. He staggered backward but remained standing.  
  
“Dam he’s still standing.” One of the men shouted.  
  
“I say again, surrender. Our objective is not to kill you , but if this continues you will die.” Their leader shouted.  
  
“I see, so you do know who who I am and what my death would mean to Asen’s regime. Or atleas your master does. ” Gyousou said, but by this point his voice was badly a whisper. 

Gyousou hunched over. He dropped his knife and clutches at his stomach wound. He’s bleeding but not badly. With medical attention this is survivable. He gritted his teeth as he pulled the arrow out. He glared back up at his pursuers.  
  
He tried to speak, he felt the need to speak some final spiteful wards to Asen’s lackeys, but his voice was gone. All he could manage was gasping panting. He smiled sadly.  
“Oh well, if this is how it ends then this is how it ends.” He thought sadly. He surged and with that he allowed himself to fall backward over the cliff and in to the raging river below.  
  
Distant shouts from the surprised men. A sudden plunge in to shockingly icy water and then nothing. Blackness......

()()()()()()()()()()()())()()()()()()  
Learn Chinese  
Diyu (地獄, Hell)  
Quanlu (泉路, Road to the Spring – another name for hell)  
I'm going to try to add notes about the Chinese words I use in this story, and other fun stuff I did research on over the course of writing this story.


	2. Morning Dawns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A hunter and a big wolf dog go for a walk. And find what they think is a dead fish. Stuff happens ;D

The pail gold rays of the dawn filtered through the iron wood pines, reflecting off of the glistening ice that coated their branches and needles. The freezing rain storm had stopped some time during the night and had left a coating of translucent ice on everything. As the light of morning grew brighter the forest sparkled like something out of a fairy tail. It was as thou everything had been encased in clear crystal. 

The snow on the forest floor had been melted some by the rain but the snow that remained from the night before was still ankle deep in places. In some areas the snow was wet and slushy though elsewhere it still had a crusty ice coating. 

The figure of a hunter, clad in animal skins made their way threw the crystalline forest with a large brown hunting dog at their side. The hunter’s garb was heavy grayish tan leathers lined with animal pelts. The gray brown animal fur poked out at the seams of the hunters coat, around their neck and wrists. Their boots and pants were the same light gray brown color and also lined with animal fur. Nothing of the hunters general body shape could be discerned through their heavy clothing. The hunters face was largely obscured by a the fur rimmed hood of their coat and a heavy woolen scarf around their face. Their hands were covered with soft dark brown leather gloves, that were the sort archers and huntsmen favored this far north, where exposing ones fingers to the elements for any considerable length of time was a sure way to lose them to frost bite.  
  
It was unusually warm this morning and the air smelled clean and damp. Apparently the ice storm had brought with it a warm snap. The hunter figuard that the snow and ice would melt away more before mid day only to freeze solid come night fall. 

The dog that followed at their side was a huge male mongrel with thick dark brown fur on his back and neck, that gave way to a lighter sandy tan on his underbelly, paws and the underside of his tail. He had a long wolf-like muzzle, intelligent golden eyes, pointed triangular ears and an attentively twitchy questing nose. His legs were ling and muscular and his tail was fluffy and curled like a sled dog’s. The dog’s shoulder came up to the hunters mid thigh. He looked to be part bear hound- a type of dog the people of northern Tai had bread for generations specifically to hunt dangerous predators and large game animals, although there was something decidedly more wolf than dog about this mongrel’s overall appearance. 

The dog happily walked along beside his person. Sometimes breaking threw the ice layer sometimes scrabbling over it. The dog wagged his fluffy tail enthusiastically toung lolling in a canine smile.  
  
There was the creaking sound of straining timbers over head as well as the the tinkling sound of icicles in the wind. Many trees had bent or broken under the heavy burden of ice and it sounded like a few more might be at their breaking point. The fur and leather clad figure stopped. The trail they had been following was blocked by the shattered remains of an iron wood pine that had fallen in the night. What had formerly been the proud pinnacle of the tree was now fallen over the narrow game trail. The trunk had splintered nine feet off the ground and its massive trunk was only baerley attached. The severed trunk hung there like the aftermath of a botched decapitation. 

The figure shrugged and moved over to the trunk where there was a triangular gap between the fallen part of the tree and the ground. They crouched down, looked at the ground and noticed that the heard of deer had used this gap by the trunk to make a detour , now that their usual path was blocked. The hunter smiled. 

This meant they hadn’t lost the heard. If the hunter had lost the deer’s trail they would have to head to the river to catch fish with were somewhat easier to procure that the quick and agile deer. . Both the hunter and the dog needed meat, and with the river swollen from last night’s rain and snow melt form the warmer temperatures fishing would be more difficult. The hunter entertained the notion, fish or deer. 

The as the hunter crouched over the trail, the dog padded up to them and nudged their shoulder. The hunter gave the beast a wry grin and scratched him behinds the ear.  
The heard was heading for the river so it would work out either way.

The hunter looped their arm through the spears carrying strap, transferring it to their back. Then unholstered their re-curved hunting bow from the sheath at their waist, and pulled an arrow form the quiver across their back. The hunter looked down at the dog and nodded in the direction of the deer tracks. 

“Come, Fang!” The hunter said warmly, mist escaping from their scarf covered mouth as they spoke. 

“Woof!” The dog barked in response. Fang panted happily and wagged his tail. Then put his nose to the ground and moved with purpose. The tracks were recent so the moved silently.  
  
Crows and other winter hardy birds continued to call overhead, undisturbed by the two predators as they moved as one. The deer were deviating from their usual rout to the river. They were going to a point further upstream then where their usual path led them. That was fine, the hunter knew every stretch of the riverbank for miles.  
  
The hunter-glimpsed movement through the brush and stopped, putting a hand on the dog’s shoulder. The dog stopped as well, he had sensed their pray was close too and stood rigid, eyes fixed forward, nostrils flared. They both crept forward slowly. One loud snap from a broken twig could mean going hungry. An indistinct movement in the brush ahead resolved into the nervous motion of deer raising and lowering their heads as they drank from the swollen river.  
  
At this point in the river the dirt and grass of the river bank normally dropped away three feet to a pebbly shoal. But with the rain and melt water the shoal has been completely submerged and the river has spilled over on to the grassy bank. The deer were wading in some three inches of water grazing on the blades of grass that poked above the shallow water around their hooves. The hunter and dog were positioned on a slight rise, putting them slightly above the heard. The ground beneath them was wet but not flooded so their movements din do generate splashing noises. Both were downwind of the heard and screened from view by scraggily undergrowth. The hunter eased forward and aimed through an opening in the brush.   
  
They crouched together, human and dog, poised for the attack. With no wasteful movement the hunter pulls back the bow string, arrow notched. The members of the heard not drinking or grazing scan the forest ears twitching, ready to run at the slightest sign of danger.   
The hunter weights and adjusts their aim, the shot had to be lethal. The hunter released the arrow.   
The shot flew right in to a doe’s ribcage burring its shaft almost up to the fletching.   
The heard scatters as Fang sprang forward bounding after the arrow. 

The injured doe treys to flee after the others, but Fang was trained to run down wounded pray. Fang tackled the doe before she could take more than a few staggering steps. The doe kicked weakly as the massive dog sank his fangs into her neck. Fang held the doe down and, after a moment, the carcass lay motionless.

“Yeah! Alright, we eat tonight!” the hunter jumped up from the bushes and threw back her hood revealing a decidedly feminine face crowned by a mass of shoulder length bright orange locks tied back in a ponytail with a leather cord. Her eyes were an oddly pale shade of blue like glacial ice, which contrasted with her dark golden brown skin. She moves forward to the carcass.

The dog let go of his kill, and looked up at his person panting and smiling. Then began splashing around in the shallow water barking happily and wagging his tail.

“Dam! We have enough meat here for a week! And a new hide! Woo Who! ” She kneels down and hugs the bog petting his back and head.  
  
“Who’s a good boy?” She ruffled the dogs fluffy fur ruff around his shoulders and chest.  
  
The dog barks twice, wagging his tail.  
  
“Yes! You are Fang! You're a good boy! ” she says in a sing-song voice. 

  
She pats the dog’s back again and stands up smiling down at him. The dog runs off exploring the shoreline as the woman moves over to retrieve the carcass from the shallow water. She tucks the bow back in to it’s sheath on her back. Then pulls her arrow from the corpse and cleans the shaft in the snow before returning it to the quiver.  
  
She puts her hood back up and pulls the carcass out of the water and hoists it on her shoulders. It's a bit awkward but manageable.  
  
Fang began to bark wildly from upstream. She stopped what she was doing immediately, a feeling of icy fingertips running down her spine overtook her. The feeling passed quickly leaving in its place a sense of urgency she turned toward her dogs panicked barking and bounded forward with the deer balanced on her shoulders. She ran rapidly along the flooded grassy bank the grass barely above the water in places. She wove around the deeper water as she hurried to reach Fang as he continued barking.   
  
The trees along this stretch of the river grow right up to the water’s edge. Many of them have branches broken off due to the heavy layer of ice from the storm. She leaps over the fallen timbers.   
  
“Please don't let it be a Yoma.” She prayed in a breathless pant.” they’d had a few run ins with the demonic beasts but they had been lucky so far. Their luck might have run out. If that was the case she’d drop the deer carcass grab Fang and run.  
  
She ran out of the trees in to a surpassingly open area of the river bank. Her eyes immediately scanned the sky, the open ground, the underbrush and the tree line, all places a yoma could attack from, but there were no yoma, there was only Fang. Fang was standing on the massive white trunk of a fallen snow willow. The ancient snow willow, had toppled over in to the river, felled by the weight of it’s icy coating and the eroding action of the raging river. Apparently the tree had fallen over some time after the rain stopped, because there was no ice on top of the exposed trunk.

She recognized the tree, it was an anomaly in a forest largely dominated by iron wood pines. The pail trunk is truly massive, easily six feet in diameter. It towered above most of the other trees in this area and now it lays in the river like the corpse of a leviathan. The trunk is mostly out of the water, propped up by the wide branches at its base supporting it’s weight against the river bottom. It’s thick limbs contorted like the writhing coils of serpents frozen in living wood. The whip-like ends of its cascading branches wave like streamers in the river’s rushing current. The tree lays at an angle form the shore with the current splashing against it, attempting to pull it down stream. However, it’s old roots are sunk in deep in the bank and the river was unable to dislodge its grasp on the shore. The tree was not nearly long enough to span the river, it’s snowy white trunk slowly disappearing below the surface of the silty water in the middle of the river with its coiled branches sticking up at intervals. Th river was some 70 feet wide and very deep, deep enough for aquatic yoma to lurk in.   


Fang stood half way up the willow’s trunk. He was looking at something hidden from her view on the other side of the tree trunk. Fang kept pointing at whatever it was with his muzzle and barking excitedly.

The woman huffed exasperatedly out her nose and scowled at the dog.  
  
“Fang, I swear to the, heavens if you got me all worked up because you found a squirrel’s nest I’ll—”  
she cut herself off when she looked back to the dog and saw that he was tense and whimpering head held low. She sighed and let the deer carcass fall from her shoulders on to the relatively dry ground under her feet.  
  
“Stupid dog!” she unstrapped her bow and quiver and set them by the deer but keeps her spear on her. She walked over to the knotted mass of tree roots and climbed up on to the trunk. She crawls along to where Fang was sitting. The dog turned to look at her then he turned his muzzle forward with another whine to point with his nose at a ragged pale mass tangled in the willows branches.  
  
“A dead fish.” She said flatly. The woman turned to look back at the dog. “Your making all this fuss over a dead fish.” She sighed and ruffled the fur between his shoulders. “What am I gonna do with you Fang.” But as she patted him she noticed that he was still tense and still pointing at the mass. Fang turned and looked at her with his big golden pleading eyes as he whimpered again before turning back to point at the mass.  
  
“You really want me to take a look?”  
  
The dog stands up shifting his paws nervously, ears perked forward.  
  
“Fine!” She huffs. “If, you really want to eat rotten fish I’ll get it for you. But don’t blame me if you puke it back up.”  
  
She climbed along the trunk further out into the river edging toward the ragged pale thing.  
  
“Oh Tentei it stinks!” She turns to the dog. “You’re serious about this.” the dog is standing up on the trunk and wagging his tail expectantly. He saw her looking back at him and smiled at her tong lolling.  
  
She sighs. “Of coerce you are.” She mutters.  
  
She climbed closer and craned her neck to get a better look at the stinking thing. The mass of the thing was partly out of the water. It looked like the current flung it up against the tree and it became tangled in the twisted white branches. 

No, weight was that cloth? Weight, that slimy matted stringy stuff wasn’t fish guts, it was hair, human hair .  
  
She slung her spear off her back, not bothering to look back at the dog. “Hay, Fang” She called over her shoulder. “I don’t think this is a fish.”  
  
She could see that it was definitely the corpse of a man in ragged clothing. His right arm and head were slumped over one of the branches, as if he’d tried to pull himself out of the water before he’d passed out. Matted slimy tendrils of hair covered his face. His right shoulder didn’t look right, it was possibly broken or dislocated. A broken bone protruded out of the bruised flesh of his bare left arm as it floated lazily in the water beside him. The shaft of a broken arrow was embedded in his left shoulder. His legs were tangled in the submerged branches. Both legs were bent at odd angles below the knees and were probably broken.   
  
She grimaced in disgust both ant the smell and sight of him.  
“Dam.” She grunted as she leaned forward to poke at the body with the butt of her spear.  
  
She bit her lip as she prodded the man’s right arm. The man suddenly twitched spasmodically his lungs convulse squeezing out a gasp that ends in a hacking wet cough.  


“Holy Crap! He’s Alive!” She shouted. Her eyes were wide as she lurched backward in horrified surprise, nearly loosing her balance and falling in to the river in the process. .  
  
Fang barked loudly in fear and confusion responding to her panicked reaction. He tried to move forward.  
  
“No Fang! Stay! I’m alright!” She called to the dog. 

Fang stopped but whined nervously.  
  
“Good boy! Stay.” She said more calmly.  
  
She leaned forward. The man was still unconscious but now she could clearly see that he was still breathing.  
  
She sighed and rolled her eyes heavenward as if to give Tentei himself a dirty look.  
  
“Fine!” she said darkly, to no one in particular.  
She unstrapped her spear and hung it on one of the trees’ branches. Then she slid herself forward off the trunk to lower herself into a crouch on a lower branch within easy arms reach of the body.  
  
“Gently, gently.” she whispered to herself as she reached out. She carefully took hold of the man’s right arm beneath his armpit, mindful that he could have injuries she couldn’t see. .  
  
Suddenly he tried to jerk out of her grip. He lashed out like a dying animal, flailing his left arm, coughing and spluttering, while kicking his legs. He locked his eyes with hers, glaring at her with wild panic filled red eyes from under his long matted hair.   
  
  
“Crap!” she shouted in alarm. She tightened her hold on to his upper arm, trying to prevent him from falling beneath the water. “Stop that! Or you’ll—”  
Before she could react he grabbed the front of her coat with his right hand and he yanked her off the tree in to the icy water with him.  
  
They both plunged under the surface. Silence fell, the only sound was the rushing of the swollen river. 

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Beneath the surface, there is no sound. The light is tinted a hazy brown from all the silt and mud. The twisted pale willow branches make eerie shapes in the dim dirty light.   
Below is only the cold darkness.  
He fights her in blind desperation. The only thing he can remember is that he can’t allow himself to be captured again.   
He has her by her coat and is pulling her down with him. If he can't escape then at least he will take his enemy with him. He attempts to use his broken left arm to attack her. His fingers are crooked like claws as he tries to reach for her face.   
She blocks his attack with an upraised forearm, batting his broken arm away. He distantly thinks that this should hurt but he doesn’t seem to feel it.   
His lungs burn for air but he can’t let her take him alive.  
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()  
She can feel him weakening. Blind panic and rage fueled his attack but he was physically weaker than her to begin with and now his strength is fading .   
They both need air but he stubburnly holds on to her coat refusing to let her rise to the surface. He tugs her down again.   
She halls back with her right hand and delivers a solid hit to his jaw.  
The impact twists his face to the side and knocks him backwards. Rendered unconscious his hand lets go of her coat.   
He begins to drift down away from her fading in to the silty darkness.   
She grabs his right arm and pulls him next to her so she can wrap her arm around his chest. She whips her body around, orienting herself toward the dim light from above before and kicking off against one of the submerged tree branches. Then grabbing another branch with her right arm throwing herself upward, hurriedly propelling both of them to the surface. 

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Fang began to panic and barked wildly when his human didn’t emerge. He bunched his haunches readying himself to dive in after her. Then suddenly the woman surfaced, gasping for air. Her orange hair slick against her scalp. 

Fang barked happily jumping up and down and wagging his tail. The woman resolutely ignored the dog’s antics and focused on finding hand holds on to the tree’s submerged branches. She grabbed one of the branched close to the trunk and hauled herself up with her right arm, as her left arm was wrapped around the unconscious man’s torso. His head lolled against his chest. Amazingly her spear was still where she’d left it. .   
  
“Dam it!!!!” The woman screamed. She gripped a branch above her head, found foot holds in the trees submerged branches and climbed out of the water. She flung the man’s body face down on to the trunk before pulling herself up on top of the tree beside him. Fang ran up to greet her but she motioned him to stay back. 

The man wasn’t breathing. Without hesitation she turned him on his back, pinched his nose between her fingers and forced her mouth over his, blowing air in to his lungs. She pulled back put one hand over the other and landed a solid blow to the center of his chest, once, twice, a third time.   
He gasped and coughed. She rolled him on his side as he coughed the water out of his lungs. With only the side of his face visible a weary red eye looked up at her. There was an expression of profound exhaustion and resignation for a moment before his eye fluttered shut again. 

She gritted her chattering teeth and growled at the limp sodden figure in front of her. “You asshole! You don't drown someone who’s trying to pull your frozen ass out of a river!!” She yelled at the unconscious man laying in front of her. 

Fang whimpered at her and tried to nuzzle the back of her head. She pushed him back. She wasn’t in the mood right now. Besides she had to get moving before hypothermia set in.   
  
“Fine, okay whatever!” The woman said dismissively holding up her hands at the dog. “Let’s just get home already.” She grumbled. 

She grabbed her spear and handed it to Fang, who gripped it between his teeth as he turned and headed for shore, still wagging his fluffy tail.   
  
She hoisted the man up over her shoulder and crawled back along the tree trunk toward the shore.  
  
Fang dropped the spear and ran around her as they both set foot on the bank. His tongue was lolling happily in a doggy smile.  
“You’re happy. Your happy I get it. Just be glad you’re not the one who had to go swimming today.”She said as she rolled her eyes again.   
  
She lay the man down on his back momentarily, so that she could pick up her quiver and bow. She slung them under her arm instead of onto her back. She knelt there shivering in her wet clothing for a moment, contemplating her next actions. 

After a moment she leaned forward to inspect the man. He was nearly colorless, his skin is practically white with an unhealthy blueish tinge to it. Even the tattered remnants of his clothing were a washed out shade of gray. His arms and legs were painfully thin. 

The broken bone protruding from his left arm isn’t the worst of his injuries. She pulls back the folds of his shirt and is greeted by vivid purple bruises and skin stretched tight against protruding ribs, along with another arrow wound in his gut. There was also the arrow in his left shoulder, and with his shirt open she sees a second arrow stuck in his left side. There was less than an inch left of its splintered shaft. She moved on to inspect his legs. His left calf was swollen and purple, a bone protruded through the skin. His right calf was similarly bruised and swollen, but at least the broken bones hadn’t pierced his skin. Blood oozed from a gash along the right side of his face clotting in his filthy hear and beard. He also had a purpling bruise on his chin where she’d hit him.   
  
She rolls her eyes again. “Tentei, Dam it all!” she sighs defeated.  
  
She realized that she’d have to leave the deer carcass behind in order to carry this injured man home. If she had a stretcher she might be able to safely transport both man and deer, but it would take time to rig a stretcher , time she didn’t have. The blood scent form her kill and the injured man’s wounds would attract yoma soon. Also having to take care of him meant she wasn’t going to be able to forage far form home for a while. Further more, she’d have to work harder to find enough food for the three of them instead of just her and Fang. 

For a moment she considered grabbing the deer and leaving the man here. She and Fang desperately needed this meat, and this stranger didn’t seem long for this world any way. She considered the idea, but in the end she decided she simply couldn't leave him here to, most likely be eaten by yoma. She reached down and gently slid her arms beneath his shoulders and knees. 

She’d have to set traps and snares to catch small game closer to home for a while.   
  
She looked down at the dog who was still panting happily and wagging his tail at her.  
  
“Come on Fang lets go home.”

Fang picked up the spear in his teeth and followed his person, wagging tail held high.   
  
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()(  
From Chinese 芳 (fāng) meaning "fragrant, virtuous, beautiful" or other characters with a similar pronunciation. The name Fang is Chinese in origin and can be used as a boy’s name of a girls name. It is pronounced as Fah-NG. 

Wow, finally cleaned up all the crazy tyops.   
Next- First Impressions.


	3. First Impressions Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our hero awakens, and isn't greeted by a fair maiden.

He stood on a field of blindingly white snow with thousands of snowflakes swirling in the air around him. He’s wearing his armor, the armor he wore during his second campaign to the city of Tetsui. It was black, like the armor he’d worn as the general of the army of the left only more ornate, more appropriate for a king. Shadowy amorphous figures armed with swords like broken glass emerge from the ground around him. Their black forms stand out starkly against the white landscape. They encircle him and attack with out mercy, stabbing and slashing him. There are too many for him to defend against. He feels himself tiring quickly, his strength fading he is unable to keep up with the relentless fury of their attacks. Arrows strike him. He suddenly turns his head to see a faceless man in white armor standing behind him. The faceless man runs him threw with a sword made out of burning ice. He cries out in pain and falls to all fours. The faceless man dissolves into whirling snow as the dark forms of his attackers fuse together around him and blot out all the snow and sky enveloping him in total darkness. 

“How pathetic you look, your majesty.” Asen’s jovial, self-satisfied voice rose out of the blackness, taunting him. Gyousou rises to his knees as blood pours out of his grievous wound. Asen coalesces from the lightless void before him as if he stepping out of a wall of black smoke. Asen’s handsome pail features are contorted in a malevolent smile. Asen stands before him wearing the long elegantly flowing court robes of a king. His straight jet-black hair is bound in a topknot beneath an imperial crown.

Asen’s cold gray eyes burn with the frigid fires of cold blooded hatred.

“Don't be so surprised my old friend, I was always superior to you in every way. I’m merely returning things to the natural order.” He says conversationally has he wraps both hands around Gyousou’s throat and starts strangling him. Gyousou lashes out desperately clawing at Asen’s robes feebly. Asen grins smugly down at him and laughs maliciously. Hands, impossibly strong, tightening like a vice, choking him he can’t breathe.  
()()()()()()()()()()()(()()(()  
  
Gyousou woke up gasping and coughing. His throat felt like it was on fire. Hands grabbed him by the shoulders and turn him on his side, this helped him clear his airways. He stopped coughing after a moment and took beep breaths. He was exhausted after the coughing spasm.  
  
Then he realized a few things. First, he’s alive. Second, he’s laying on his right side. Third, he’s wrapped in pelts and laying on a straw mattress on a floor covered with reed mats. Forth there’s someone sitting facing him and he has a very good view of their knees right now. Whoever they are they are wearing deerskin pants. Finally, he also realizes that he is bound at the wrists and ankles with thick strips of soft cloth. This was not a good sign.  
  
His neck felt stiff and sore, it’s too painful to move and his head feels impossibly heavy. He can’t lift it to look up at the other person. Fortunately he didn’t have to. Those same hands gently turned him on his back and propped him up slightly on a pillow of pelts. He was thankful to have his weight transferred off his right shoulder, as it had blazed with pain. 

Once on his back he found that he was looking at a steeply peaked thatched roof typical of houses in northern Tai. Sunlight shone down threw a narrow smoke hole. He could see flickering orange light reflecting off the thatch above him and the round shapes of the logs that formed the walls around him. Judging from the sound of burning timber, the fire wasn’t far from where he was lying. There were vague shapes above him hanging form the rafters, possibly drying herbs or other supplies. He can smell something herbal as well as wood smoke and something else that smells tantalizingly like cooking meat.   
  
A face looms over him eclipsing his vision. A woman, she had a swarthy, golden hued complexion. 

Her face was oddly narrow and angular with high cheekbones, a well-proportioned nose and robust but delicately pointed chin. She looked to be in her early twenties. Her eyes seemed to be a strange icy pail blue, which contrasted with her fiery bright orange hair. She had her hair pulled back in a ponytail with a leather thong though her tresses were long enough to fall over her shoulder as she leaned over him. Her features lacked the classical delicate feminine beauty that would have classified her as “pretty” but she had a grace and proportional elegance to her face that most would at least call “handsome”. 

She was indeed wearing gray-brown deerskin pants. She had an off white wool hip length shirt with tight fitting long sleeves. Her shirt was tied shut at the waist with a sash of reddish brown cloth. She had no jewelry, and her clothing was the bland everyday garb of most peasants. She was a complete mystery to him.

She frowned down at him, looking concerned and a bit frustrated. 

“Can you talk?” She asks bluntly. She had a Bun province accent.  
  
“Yes.” Gyousou found his voice surprisingly raspy and weak. It hurt to talk. His throat was sore and dry despite the wet coughs he’d had earlier.  
  
Was this woman allied with his enemies? He had no fight left in him; it was all over if this woman delivered him back to Asen. It would be the end of everything.  
  
“Who are you, and why have you bound me?” His voice sounded more like a strangled gasp that an authoritative command.  
  
Her eyebrows rose in surprise at his demanding tone.   
“My name is Chunghua.” She answered as she narrowed her eyes at him meaningfully. “I tied you up because it looks like the imperial army was trying to kill you and I’d like to know why.”  
  
He lay looking up at her in absolute stunned silence.  
  
She quirked an eyebrow as she looked down at him in a way that suggested things wouldn't go well for him if he tried lying to her. “The arrow heads I pulled out of your shoulder and leg were four sided, diamond shaped and made of steel. Only soldiers form the imperial army use arrow heads with that design."  
Well this Chunghua woman knew about military weapons, that was both unusual and troubling.   
She continued to give him a pointed look as she went on. “For all I know your some desperate criminal who’d kill me in my sleep, or at least try to. You did trey to drown me when I was fishing you’re ass out of the river. ” She said acidly.  
“What?!” He attempted to shout in confusion. He suddenly found himself having another spasm of coughing. It wasn’t as bad as before and it ended quickly.

“Seriously. You don't remember what happened?” She raised a tawny eyebrow and cocked her head to one side as she looked down at him. “You pulled me in with you and tried to hold me under. You would have drowned both of us if I hadn't slugged you and pulled you out of the water with me." She seemed more surprised than angry.  
"No, I don't remember." He rasped, utterly shocked.  
She shrugged. "Well you obviously weren't in your right mind at the time. But I still want to know who you are and what you did to end up being shot at by the imperial army.”  
  
She clearly had no idea who he was. She probably wasn't working for Asen but this didn’t mean she was automatically someone he could trust. Even if she was just some civilian how much did he dare to tell her?  
  
“So, do you have a name?” she asked bluntly.  
  
What name should he give her?  
  
“Shou, my name is Shou Sokka .” He choked out. It was his birth name. The name he had had long before attaining the rank of an immortal sennin. He had not been called by that name for more than a century.  
  
“Alright Sokka, so how did you piss off the Imperials?” She snorted and gave him a knowing smirk. “You run off with some officer’s woman or something?”  
  
It annoyed him to have a complete stranger call him by his given name.  
“No!” he shouted, then instantly regretted it as he began to cough again.  
  
“Here, have some tea.” She her demeaning changed abruptly as she was suddenly raising a cup to his lips and easing him up slightly to helped him drink.  
  
“Thank you,” he managed, “and no.”  
  
“So, what happened?” She pressed. Her skeptical tone had returned and she lay him back down again.   
  
He shut his eyes tightly at the remembered pain of betrayal.

“I…” He thought it over; she had probably picked up on his accent already so there was no denying that he was from the capital.

“I was a first lieutenant in the army of the left.” This was technically true or had been true in the past.  
“I put myself in opposition to one of the lord generals, and he had me imprisoned for political expediency.” A wave of anger washed over him as he remembered the sneering face of the prison warden.  
  
“So,” She queered, “You were one of Gyousou’s loyalists. You tolled the glorious lord general Asen to fuck off and he had you disappeared.”  
  
He blinked up at her dazedly. There was no point denying what she’d just said. This woman's powers of deduction were impressive. No, it wasn’t so much deduction he decided, but rather she'd riled him by using his given name, and then she’d taunted him with her insinuation about stealing a woman. He'd been angry and had answered her carelessly. In that moment he'd let it slip that he was in the army of the left, the armed force that every one knew had been commanded by Gyousou before he ascended to the throne. 

“Yes.” He nodded. Well now that she knew where his loyalties lay he'd just have to see where things went from here.  
  
She snickered then snorted. “Shit, and I thought you actually did something criminal.” Then she just burst out laughing.  
  
He stared blankly up at the laughing woman. Then something gave out. Some last bit of tension. Her laughter was infectious and Gyousou found himself chuckling along with her. Which was a mistake because he was promptly reminded of his broken ribs and his chuckles turned in to groans.  
  
“Easy, easy. You have broken ribs. And a lot else besides.” She put a comforting hand on his chest.

Her scowl and coldly challenging demeanor were gone. 

“Was that just a front?” He wondered. She seemed far more relaxed around him now that he’d told her he was in the army of the left. That was reassuring. 

He relaxed and took a few deep steadying breaths.  
  
“Dam.” She continued “I thought all the guys from Gyousou's army had been killed outright after they ‘put themselves in opposition to’ that mother fucker.” She said grinning as she repeated his words form earlier. She put her hand over her face and sighed. 

“The fuck, I could tell you'd been tortured but no wonder you looked like a Yoma’s lunch when I found you.”  
  
A mound of dark brown fur got up from where it had been laying across his legs. Gyousou stared wide eyed. He’d thought that brown mass was just another bunch of pelts.  
  
“Oh, now your awake.” She said turning to snap at the dog over her shoulder.  
  
The dog padded over the reed mats on the floor and started licking his master. The dog was huge, with triangular ears and a long curved fluffy tail. His fur was a very dark brown but his under belly and paws were a lighter tan color, and his eyes were gold.   
  
“Ug! Down boy! Down!” She scolded pushing on the dogs chest. She got the dog to sit down next to her.  
  
“This is Fang by the way. He’s my dog. He’s at least part highland bear hound with some wolf in there somewhere.” She scratched fang behind the ear. “Don’t mind him he’s harmless.”  
  
Gyousou nodded to Fang. The thought occurred to him that having a large carnivorous animal near him in his weakened state should bother him, but he’d always liked dogs and the presence of this mongrel was oddly comforting.   
He turned back to Chung. “Do you think you could untie me now?” He rasped insistently.  
  
She smiled back at him; it was a genuine smile this time. “Sure.”

The dog wagged his tail and gave a single “Woof!”.  
  
She pulled the fur blankets back. Revealing that he was dressed in new woolen garments similar to the shirt she was wearing. Only his tunic shorter, dyed dark brown and the sleeves were much wider and looser. He looked down and saw the splint she’d put on his left forearm. Beneath the sticks she’d used for the splint it looked like she’d wrapped his arm in bandages up to the elbow, and both of his hands had been completely covered in bandages up to the knuckles. He remembered the stinging pain as he'd torn the skin off when freeing himself.   
  
She worked loose the knot as she spoke. “Mostly I just did this to make sure you didn’t hurt yourself you've got a broken arm and you’re right shoulder was completely dislocated. I had to make sure they were immobilized so they’d heal properly. I’m still watching the wounds to make sure they don’t get infected.”

He rotated his right shoulder experimentally. It ached but the pain was dull and distant. He didn’t dare try to move his left arm. 

She looked up and met his eyes as she continued. “That and, I didn’t want to end up fighting you off again like what happened at the river. You fight pretty well for a guy who’s half-dead.”  
  
He managed to smirk at her.   
  
She smirked back. She sent his arms on top of the blankets. “There you go. Now I’ll do your ankles.”

He looked down at his hands. He barely recognized them. They were thin, pale, and frail looking. 

She pulled back the blankets and revealed that below the weights he was wearing loose woolen pants the same off-white color as her long shirt.

His heart fell when he saw that both of his shins had been splinted. His pants were rolled up to his knees and both of his legs were elevated, resting on a thick cushion of wadded pelts and hides. 

She saw the look on his face and turned away. “I’m sorry, but both of your legs are broken.” She said sadly. 

He sighed in resignation.   
  
She pulled the blankest back over him after she untied his ankles, then looked back at him. “Do you want to try sitting up?”  
“Yes.” He managed to rasp.  
  
“Fang, no!” Gyouso turned to look at the dog. The dog was still sitting beside him although it had leaned forward and was sniffing at him. The dog instantly sat bolt upright at the sound of Chunghua’s voice.   
  
“Good boy” she commended. She stood up and fished a chunk of dryad meat out of a sack suspended from the ceiling and tossed it to the beast. Fang caught it in his mouth and walked off to the corner by the foot of Gyousou’s bed to begin happily chewing on the stiff meat.  
  
“Fang has grown very attached to you sense you’ve been here, but you have a nasty gash down the side of your face and I don’t want it getting infected. So he shouldn’t lick you.” She explained.

He tentatively raised a hand and felt his face. He was surprised to discover that his beard had been cropped very close to his skin leaving his face covered with dense stubble. She’d probably been fearful of cutting his face, so she hadn’t shaved it closer to the skin. He had always kept his face clean shaven before. He was glade Chunghua had cut it for him.

He felt up further and found a cloth bandage stuck to the right side of his face with salve. The bandage extended from his temple to his cheek. There was indeed a long gash beneath it and the surrounding flesh felt bruised as well.   
She sat back down beside him “Alright, give me a moment.” 

She leaned over him embracing him with her left arm behind his shoulders and used her right arm to manipulate a pile of furs just behind him. Pressed chest to chest he felt the bulge of her small firm breasts. Gyousou realized that given that they were both sitting down and that his shoulders seemed to be at the same level as hers they must be very similar in height. He was a very tall man. That meant that she must be exceptionally tall for a woman. She also seemed remarkably strong, or was it simply that he was so weak by comparison?  
  
Sudden pain shot through his stomach and torso. He grunted and clenched his teeth against it.  
  
“Sorry,” she said with genuine concern. “Do you want to lay back down?” 

He shook his head. The pain was quickly fading. She continued to ease him up.

“Most of your ribs are cracked and there was an arrow in your gut. You basically managed to break almost every bone in your body. I’ve don my best to patch you up. I’ve used hunny and the herbs I had on hand to make a salve for your wounds. There’s no sigh of infection and your healing very well.” She paused as she leaned him back against the pillowed furs. “Probably still hurts like hell though.”

He managed to grunt an affirmative.  
  
She leaned back and looked at him expectantly. “You’ve satisfied my questions for the time being. And you probably have more than a few of your own. ” She sat cross-legged next to him expectantly. “Go ahead.” 

“Where am I?” he asked

“Bun province, somewhere along the banks of the Mother Serpent River. About three days walk from the nearest village, and five days walk to the nearest inhabited village, give or take.” She shrugged.  
  
“Bun province.” He echoed. His strangled voice still sounded strange to him. He wondered if he was far enough away from the prison. The Mother Serpent was a river that flowed north from the barrier mountains between Zui and Bun province. He was further away from Risai then before.

“What year is this?” He wheezed.

“You’re asking about the year?” She was surprised. Her eye’s widening in disbelief.

“Yes,” he tried to scowl at her but found he couldn’t muster the energy for it. He sighed.

“My cell had no window, and my jailers purposefully manipulated my perception of the passage of time.” He swallowed to try to ease his burning throat.  
  
“Why would they do that?”  
  
“It is a form of torture, it makes one lose their since of reality and go insane.” He began to cough again.   
  
“Sorry, here-” she put the cup up to his lips and helped him drink again. This time he recognized it as willow bark tea. It was bitter but hot and it quenched his burning throat.  
  
“That's sadistic!” she said putting the cup back down.

He was surprised but concealed it well. "Sadistic" was an apt word for what he'd been subjected to but it wasn't a word an average peasant woman from Bun province would be familiar with. 

“How did you escape?” Then she put her hand up. “No, never mind you can tell me later. You asked me a question and I’ll answer it.”  
  
She paused to think a moment then answered. “This is, or at least it would have been, the seventh year of the rain of King Gyousou.”  
  
Gyousou felt relieved. The longest a monarch had ever lived after the death of their Kirin was one year. If he was still alive now six years after the coupe that meant Taiki had survived as well. Then a wave of anger washed over him. Asen had stolen six years of his life, and Tentei only knew what his absence had done to Tai.  
  
“How… How long have I been here?” he asked raggedly.  
  
She hesitated again before answering. “About a week.”   
  
He turned away from her; he didn’t want her to see the anxiety on his face. A week, he went over it in his head. He had no idea how far the river had carried him. All he knew was that the prison had been in Bun Province and he was apparently still in Bun province. Had the prison guards given up the search by now? Were they still searching along the river and hadn’t found this place yet, or had they passed on to search further down river. Had any of his pursuers truly known who he was? Had word of his escape reached the capital? If they found him now he wouldn’t---

"Lieutenant Shou!” She said suddenly forcing his attention back to her.   
  
“If you’re worried about the law, don’t bother.” She said forcefully “This house’s former owners were attacked by Yoma and no one had come to bury them before I arrived. I haven’t seen any other humans out here for the past two years. Furthermore we’re really far back from the river. I haven’t been back there since I found you and we’ve had three blizzards dump a ton of snow since then too. No one looking along the river is going to find their way here.” She folded her arms confidently.  
  
He met her eyes and nodded, indicating that he understood. Although, he was surprised that she’d made such precautions. She clearly had no love for Asen perhaps she too was a fugitive. 

She sighed and brushed her fingers back through her orangey hair. “Look, basically you’re safe here, and while you’ve been out I set and splinted your arm and leg, popped you’re arm back in to place, and bandaged your other wounds. It’s going to be a while before you’re able to walk, but you’re healing really well and none of your wounds have become infected, so in a few months you’ll be fully recovered.” She sighed in an oddly resigned way. “ Personally I’d like to keep my head down and avoid any trouble. But, if the illustrious lord Asen considers you worth locking up you are welcome to stay here, and I won’t stop you when you decide it’s time for you to leave.”  
  
“That’s very kind of you.” He managed. So she was a fugitive or at least a dissonant.  
  
She paused and gently touched his hand, as she looked right in to his eyes. “You are one taught bastard you know that, lieutenant .” She said softly. “I wasn’t sure if you were going to make it. There were nights when I stayed up to watch over you, worrying that the fever would kill you at any moment. But you pulled through.” 

“Fever?” he asked.

She let go of his hand and walked over to the fire to refresh his tea from a kettle sitting next to the red-hot coals.

“I’ve been treating you with willow bark and golden seal tea and giving you venison broth. ” She explained. “You have pneumonia. You probably got it from your dip in the river or it was something you picked up in prison,” She shrugged. “Either way your fever broke last night. You’re still a little too hot but the worst is over.”  
  
He turned away from her and tried to process this. Pneumonia, no wonder he kept coughing and he was having trouble speaking.   
  
“What year was it when they locked you up?”  
  
Her sudden question brought him back in to the present. He managed to rotate his head back to her. She was still by the fire and was string something in a big iron soup pot suspended over it. Her blue eyes met his with curiosity.  
  
He took a moment to think before answering. He decided he would have to tell her something that followed the truth as closely as possible or risk getting caught in a lie.  
“I was taken in to custody in the first year of King Gyousou’s range, during the second Tetsui campaign.”

The city of Tetsui had rebelled once during the range of the Vain King and the army of the left had been dispatched, under the command of then general Gyousou, to put it down. Instead of following the Kings orders to the letter Gyousou had chosen to pursue a less violent resolution. Because of his efforts Gyousou's army was able to avoid killing a single citizen, and the citizens of Tetsuie ended the insurrection against the crown. 

After ascending to the throne a violent rebel group had occupied the city. Gyousou had felt a personal attachment to Tetsuie and had left the capital to attend to the situation personally. This had been the second Tetsuie campaign. 

She looked up at the mention of Tetsui. “You were part of the second Tetsui campaign? Were you traveling with lord general Gyousou’s forces? Sorry , I mean the king’s forces. ” She asked tentatively.   
  
“No.” He answered uncertainly. “My unit was summoned from the capital to bolster the troops his majesty took with him. ” This was a lie of coerce but he had sent a message asking for forces form the capital. However, he did not know if the message had ever reached it’s intended destination. “I was ambushed by Asen’s men before I could join forces with his majesty.” He’d decided to simply say he wasn’t there instead of making up something more elaborate.

“Oh, I see.” She said disappointedly. She sat back on her hunches and sighed.   
Fang padded up and sat down beside her. She scratched him behind the ears absentmindedly.  
She stopped and turned her attention back to the pot. “I don’t suppose you know what happened to the king?” she asked casually with her head bent over the pot.

She may have asked the question nonchalantly but it set him on edge. She had no love for Asen but there was a lot he didn't know about her, and she'd already goaded him in to giving her more information than he would have liked.

"No, as I said my unit was captured before I could join with his force." He answered simply. 

"Oh, right. Sorry." She said seemingly embarrassed at her absent-mindedness.   
“Well, you hungry? I’ve got a nice venison stew going.” She looked back to him and he smiled and nodded.

“Okay.” She nodded back and went over to a corner to retrieve two bowls. "A lot has happened since you were locked up, but I'll weight till you’ve had something to eat before I go in to it."

He looked around the hut. He noticed that there were for the most part two sets of everything. To heavy hide coats by the door. Two set’s of rucksacks and two sets of boots. No weight there were three sets of boots he recognized the black boots he had stolen off the warden.  
  
She came back with the food, one bowl in each hand and a spoon in each bowl.   
“Think you’re up to trying this on your own? Or I could help you if you need me to.” She offered. 

He flexed his left hand experimentally. It was stiff but it didn't really hurt. His right arm seemed to be fine except for the dull pain in his shoulder.   
“I think I can manage.” He rasped. He extended his right hand to take the bowl she offered him. 

She handed the bowl to him before sitting down cross-legged on the mat beside his bed with the other bowl in her hands.   
  
He looked down at the stew. He was famished and the delicious scent of the stew was making him even hungrier. He transferred the bowl to his left hand and took up the spoon in his right. It was easily the best food he'd had in six years. It was full of small chunks of smoked venison, onions and even a few carrots. He didn’t realize how quickly he was eating until he heard Chunghua laugh. 

"I take it you approve of my cooking lieutenant." Chunghua asked jovially. She'd taken up her own bowl and spoon and had clearly been enjoying her stew as well.   
"Yes this is very good.” He said, somewhat embarrassed. “Where did you get the vegetables?"

"The people who lived here before had a vegetable garden. A lot of the plants are dead now but root vegetables are really hard to kill once they get going. I've been using them sparingly." She explained matter of factly.   
She turned to glare daggers at Fang who was wagging his tail and slowly advancing on her food with big puppy dog eyes.   
"No, you've been fed!" She scolded.

The dog dropped to his belly and wined pitifully, looking up at her with big wet sad eyes. 

"Oh for the love of..." she groused.   
She stood up, still holding her stew I one hand and pulled a deer's leg bone out of a sack hanging from. The rafters.

"Here boy." She said as she offered him the bone. 

The dog smiled up at her and took the bone. He curled up beside her as she sat back down.

"I hate to impose Ms. Chunghua," Gyousou or rather Sokka began,"but do you have a mirror?"

She had started sipping the stew from her bowl. She stopped and narrowed her eyes at him over the rim bowl. "Um, no. Do I look like I can even afford a mirror." She said pointedly. 

"I'm sorry." He rasped. "I meant no offense, it's just that I haven't seen my own face in years."

She sighed. "Alright, I'll see what I can do about that after we finish eating."  
He decided to follow her example and used his right hand to raise the bowl to his lips and drank deeply. He didn’t dare put weight on his broken left arm. He made an effort to eat more slowly to avoid making himself sick but he ended up having three helpings of the stew.

After word she cleaned the empty stew put, as well as their bowls and spoons.   
Gyousou felt himself nodding off. It had been a long time since he'd had a full stomach.

"Here." Chung called, rousing him as she walked over with the black iron stew pot. It was filled to the brim with clean water from the bucket in the corner of the house. 

He looked at her in confusion. 

"You said you wanted to see your reflection." She reminded him.

"Oh, yes. Thank you." He looked down in to the pot.   
He had been 32 when he had been promoted and become an immortal sennin. He had continued to be physically 32 for over 100 years since then but now the face of an old man stared back at him. His once mahogany skin was now so pale it was almost translucent. He’d spent six years deprived of sunlight and it had left his skin papery and thin. His face was gaunt, his cheeks were hollow and his eyes were sunken. He looked completely, drained of life and worn out. He doubted that any of his former comrades would recognize him in his current state. 

His beard was cut short as he'd noticed from his earlier examination but he noticed something else. His hair was shorter then he remembered.   
  
He'd always kept his hair a reasonable length when he'd been in the military, only allowing it to grow just past his shoulders. While he'd been in prison his hair had grown down his back in to an unkempt disgracefully filthy mess. He’d cut it before he left the dungeon, but now it was even shorter, barely reaching the nape of his neck. It was barely long enough to pull back in a dignified tail. 

"You cut my hair." He said in mild confusion.   
"Well I had to." She stated defensively. " No offense but your beard and hair were all matted and disgusting. There was no way to comb out all that. And then there were the fleas. I had to give you a hair cut and scrub you down with pennyroyal oil to get rid of the fleas that were crawling all over you. Otherwise they would have spread to me and Fang.”

He shuttered a little at the memory of having the tiny parasites crawling on his skin. It had been a part of the humiliation and torture the warden had subjected him to in order to strip away his humanity.   
"Thank you”, he croaked. 

He felt his eyelids getting heavier. He could tell that it was still daylight outside but between the food and the weakened state of his injured body he was fading in to unconsciousness. 

"I'm sorry Ms. Chunghua," he said drowsily. " I wanted to talk more but I think I need to sleep now."  
"I understand," she nodded. "Please, go ahead, you need to rest to gain back your strength."

()()()()()()()()()()()((()()()()()()()

She watched as the man who'd called himself Shou Sokka faded back to sleep. She knew he hadn't told her the whole truth, and that was fine. She’d managed to confirm that he wasn’t her enemy. That had been such a relief, she’d actually broken down and gotten emotional in front of him. 

She put a few kauji pods on the fire to keep the house warm wile she went out. She’d gotten extremely lucky when she’d bagged that deer earlier in the week, after she'd had to abandon her other kill by the river. Unfortunately they’d eaten the last of that kill in the stew they’d had just now. She'd been staying close to the house since bringing him here, but now they were low on meat and she had to check the traps she'd set earlier this week. 

She pulled on the rest of her cold weather outer clothing and grabber her weapons.   
"Come on Fang! Time to hunt!" She called as she opened the door. 

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()())

Some notes about naming customs. 

You probably missed this if you just watched the Twelve Kingdoms English dub (I know I did). I found out about this after reading the novel translations.   
There’s this thing called a courtesy name. In pre-modern China, the courtesy name (or zi) would replace a man's given name when he turned twenty, as a symbol of adulthood and respect. It could be given either by the parents or by the first personal teacher on the first day of school. Women might adopt a zi in place of their given name upon marriage. One also may adopt a self-chosen courtesy name. 

Given all that, I had to make some assumptions about Gyousou’s name.   
In the English translation of the novel “Sea of Wind” Gyousou states that his given name is “Sou” (綜) and he is called “Gyousou” (驍宗) . So I’m assuming that “Gyousou” is a self chosen courtesy name or it was given to him by a teacher or someone like that. 

Other sources stay that his courtesy name is “Bokusou” (Bokusou — 朴 綜 (simple + rule)) and it was given to him by the Vain King. The same sources give Asen’s courtesy name as Bokukou, (Bokukou— 朴高 (simple + high)). Its stated that the two were “like brothers, but definitely not actually related. So their similar formal names seem to support the idea that both of them had their courtesy names bestowed on then by the Vain King, (I figure that guy had a weird sense of humor). That must have really got under Asen's skin.   
I was ready to accept that “Saku” was Gyousou’s surname, however, Gyousou is the duke or count of Saku county (乍県). In Zui province ( the province the capital is in). And the character for “Saku” (this one “乍” ) is the same character used for his surname and the name of the county. Also, its stated in “Sore in twilight that Gyousou is originally form Ai province. So, I’m thinking using “Saku” in place of his surname is probably a reference to his title as the duke/ count of Saku county. 

So, I’ve decided to invent a birth name for him. Shou Sokka. The surname, Shou -- 守 which means to guard/ defend/ abide by the law. Sokka - 索卡- ( to ask/demand/search + to block) 

Yes, I did give him the name of a certain dark skinned “plan guy” who wears his hair in a warrior’s wolf tail and comes from a land of ice and snow, but I'm not going to write him with a similar personality. Apparently the writers of Avatar based Sokka’s name off of the word “souka” with is Japanese slang for “I understand” or “ I know”. Honestly I just like the name. 

Notes about the plants I name dropped in this chapter   
Golden seal- its a plant in the buttercup family that has some antibiotic properties. “Goldenseal is usually consumed in tea or capsules to treat respiratory and digestive problems. However, it may also combat bacterial diarrhea and urinary tract infections.”  
Its also native to Canada and parts of the eastern United States so..... I’m kind of cheating here but with a name like “Goldenseal” it just kind of fits. Also It was in such high demand as a medical herb during the 19th- 20th century that it’s now an endangered species, wild huh? I found the info on golden seal and other natural antibiotics here.

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/321108.php#which-natural-antibiotics-to-avoid.  
Also the Wikipedia atical on golden seal was pretty cool.  
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldenseal

pennyroyal- a plant in the mint family that’s basically natural insect repellent. One of it’s common names is “flea bane”. It’s native to Europe and America so I’m basically cheating again, but come on its literally called pennyROYAL. Also it’s incredibly toxic so it’s better off just to use it topically. I found a couple of sites that said it was used to make tea but those sources also said that the herb commonly causes liver damage. I leaned about it on a blog called “Growing Hermione's Garden”. It’s really cool, I recommend it to any one who’s writing a story that involves medicinal herbs or poisons plants. Here’s a link.

http://hermionesgarden.blogspot.com/ 

Also a quick note about making antibiotic salve out of honey, yeah it may seem pretty random to us 21st century people but this was a thing back in the day.   
“Since the time of Aristotle, honey has been used as an ointment that helps wounds to heal and prevents or draws out infection.  
Healthcare professionals today have found it helpful in treating chronic wounds, burns, ulcers, bedsores, and skin grafts. For example, results of a study from 2016 demonstrate that honey dressings can help to heal wounds.” Cool right! 

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/321108.php#seven-best-natural-antibiotics

Learn Chinese 

Saku Gyousou — 乍 驍宗 (all + strong + essence)  
Shou -守 -- (to guard/ defend/ abide by the law)  
Sokka - 索卡- ( to ask/demand/search + to block/ stop/ to be struck)   
Chunghua, - 春 花- (spring(the season)+ flower)


	4. First Impressions Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our hero learns what has happened to the country he's supposed to be ruling, and gets more information about Risai.

He woke up after a blissfully dreamless slumber. From the quality of the light filtering in from the smoke hole in the thatch roof, the sun had set. He was still propped up in a sitting position. He looked down and found that Fang was laying across his lap. 

The dog looked up at him and panted happily. 

"I see you’re awake again." Chung called from over by the fire pit.   
He turned his head to look at her. Sure enough she was sitting by the fire. The skinned bodies of four rabbits were roasting on spits in front of her. 

"How long was I asleep?" He asked. His throat was not as soar as it had been before but his voice still sounded raspy and faint. 

"Only a few hours", she answered as she got up only to sit down beside him. "You feeling any better now?"  
"Yes, some what." He nodded as he scratched Fang behind his ears. "May I ask you something?"

"Sure, go ahead." 

“Do you live here alone?”  
  
“Huh.” She said, surprised by his question.

He nodded to the coats on the wall and multiple sets of boots. 

“Oh that. I was with my mother when I found this house. She died some time ago. I still have a lot of her things though.” She explained smiling. “She was a skilled doctor and herbalist. She passed a lot of her knowledge on to me but I never completed the training to become a doctor myself.” 

“That explains a lot.” He thought.  
  
"I'm sorry for your loss."He said, inclining his head slightly. 

"Thanks", she said awkwardly. "It was tough to watch her go, I really miss her. "   
"Was it Yoma?"

"No she took an arrow to her knee when we cut through a forest to avoid a check point." She said somberly "The the arrow one straight into the joint, embedded in the cartilage. " Chunghua made a jabbing motion, thrusting her index finger against her left knee. "The joint got infected despite everything we did and I didn’t have the equipment to amputate the leg." Chung put her face in her open right palm, "She died a little wile after we found the house." She wasn't crying but it was obvious from her posture and tone of voice that she was in pain.

"I'm sorry." he said again, mostly because he couldn't think of any thing else to say.  
"I’m okay" she said. " It was over a year ago."

“Oh, are you hungry?” She asked suddenly. He recognized that she was trying to change the subject. He could see that talking about her mother was making her uncomfortable. 

“No, I think I may have eaten too much earlier.” He rasped. After starving for so long he felt uncomfortably bloated. He supposed he’d have to reacquaint his stomach with food more slowly going forward. 

“Is there more tea?” He asked hopefully.

“Yes”, she nodded and smiled at him. “I’ll go get you some.” She said as she got up and headed gat to the fire. A moment later she handed him a steaming cup. 

This time the tea started of ginger, and wasn’t so bitter. He sighed, grateful for something as simple as being able to drink hot tea again. 

Fang stirred slightly and rolled over to allow Gyousou so scratch his belly. He smiled and carefully extended his left hand to stroke the dog.  
"Oh right,” Chunghua said abruptly. “I said we'd talk about what's been going on in Tai when you woke up”. 

He knew she was purposefully stealing the conversation away form her mother but he was eager for any information she had on the current state of the kingdom.

"Yes, I'd appreciate that if your willing." He said gently.  
"It’s no big deal. I was going to be up for a wile anyway watching those rabbits.", she explained.  
"I was working on this too." She held up a pair of heavy fur lined pants. She'd been sewing extra material to the cuffs to make them longer. 

"They were my mom's. She was a lot shorter than I am."  
She leaned back and stared at the darkened ceiling for a bit before she said anything. "Well, you were captured during the second Tetsui campaign so you basically don't know about anything that happened after that."  
"Unfortunately no." He agreed as he took another sip of his tea.  
"Well a wile after word got to the capital about Gyousou going missing the palace was hit with some kind of disaster."  
"What do you mean by disaster?" He asked skeptically.  
"It was like an earth quake or a typhoon or something." She shrugged holding both hands palms upward.

"Or a shoku." He muttered mostly to himself. Shoku were intense supernatural storms that tore the fabric of reality and could temporarily connect this world with the other world where the nation of Hourei resided, although Taiki called it Japan. It was said the kirin could summon shoku when they were in danger. Was it possible that something had happened in the palace that had put Taiki in danger? 

Yes, when he'd gone to Bun province he'd taken half of Asen's units form the army of the right with him but he'd left Asen himself behind at the palace. At the time he'd known Asen was plotting something. Gyousou had thought that by halving Asen's fighting strength he'd ensured that Asen wouldn't try anything bold wile he was away. 

Obviously he'd been wrong. 

Then again if Taiki had summoned a shoku that meant he might be in Hourei, somewhere safe where Asen could not reach him.   
"Could have been a shoku I guess." Chunghua said thoughtfully as she continued to sew. "But I wasn't there. All I heard was that the sky went dark, the ground shook and bits of palace came raining down on to the capital. After word everyone started calling that day ‘The Fall’ and saying it was the day Tentei turned his back on Tai." 

Gyousou set down his tea. He shut his eyes as he leaned in to the soft pelts at his back. 

He was appalled by how clinical and matter of fact she sounded. Then again this was six years in the past for her and she'd never seen the palace. She'd never met the people who lived and worked there. Some of his oldest and dearest friends had probably been in the palace that day, friends who would not have been there in harms way if he hadn't recruited them to be part of his new government.  
"How many people died?" He asked. He continued stroking the dog with his right hand work his left hand clenched with impotent rage directed at both himself and Asen.  
"Who knows." She sighed. She put down her sewing and stared in to the fire for a wile before continuing. "Lots of officials died, I know that much. The government basically shut down for a wile because so many officials from every ministry were dead."   
Gyousou kept his eyes closed as he grimaced in pain. He knew Risai was alive and since he was still alive it could be taken as a given that Taiki had survived. But the others, Sairei, Gansho, Gashin, Haboku and Rousan: what had happened to them?  
"Are you okay?" Chunghua asked mildly. She'd noticed the pained look on his face.

He opened his eyes and gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile, though it probably didn’t look all that convincing. 

"Its nothing.", he said dismissively. "Please continue."  
"Yeah, okay" she ran her hand threw her tawny hair. It glowed Amber in the flickering light of the fire. She was stalling as if the next part was particularly painful.   
"Well, while they were still sorting threw the rubble and dead bodies general Asen pops in out of the blue. He has this severed birds foot in his hand and he starts telling every one that that bird thing, I can't remember what it's called, just dropped dead. After that he just took over and started ordering people around."

“LIES!” He shouted, than instantly regretted it as he piched forward, shaking form painful coughing spasms.  
Fang leapt off his lap but stayed close looking clearly frightened.

Chung was by his side in an instant. Her blue eyes were wide and wild as she turned him on his side and held his shoulders. He hacked and wheezed for an interminable length of time, but eventually his breathing evened out. 

"I'm alright now." He panted. 

"Don't scare me like that!" She hissed barely restraining herself from out right yelling at him. She angrily waved her hand at him for emphasis. "I thought you were about to hack up your own lungs for a moment there!" She sat back and crossed her legs, sighing in relief.  
"Sorry." He managed to give her a weak smile. His temper had gotten the better of him. He couldn't afford to let that happen again, both on account of his current physical condition and because didn't he know how far he could trust Chunghua.  
"The bird you mentioned." He said weakly.   
"Yeah what about it?" Chung answered.  
"It's called the Hakuchi. The Hakuchi is the bird that cries out twice in its life. Once when the king is enthroned and once when it announces the death of the king right before it dies. When it dies it's foot is used in place of a royal seal, that’s probably why Asen--" He stopped himself from saying more, and coughed weakly so she wouldn’t notice the laps.   
Chung patted his shoulder affectionately. “Are you sure you alright?” She asked, her face was creased with worry. 

He nodded. She sighed in relief and eased him on to his back before handing him his tea. He sipped it gratefully. 

Chung leaned back. "Yeah, I knew that, I just couldn't remember the stupid bird's name." She groused. 

"Look I'm sorry you should probably be resting right now." She said as she looked away from him, clearly angry with herself.  
He set the tea down and reached out to put his right hand on her shoulder. "No, please go on." He rasped. "I need to hear the rest, I'll sleep afterword."

"Okay, but don't freak out like that again." She scolded. 

He nodded in agreement. 

Fang climbed back on to his lap, clearly hoping to be pet some more. Gyousou obliged.

She regarded the scene for a moment before giving in. "Fine." She sighed.  
She paused to pick up the threads of her narrative. She leaned to one side and rested her chin in her hand.  
"Well, things got pretty fishy after that."   
Gyousou raised an eyebrow at her cynically. 

"Okay things were fishy from the beginning. I meant they got fishier from there." She explained in annoyance. "See, a wile later that lady general, Ri something or other, was sent off to Jou Province to put down a rebellion or whatever."  
"Risai Ryushi." Gyousou offered.   
"Yeah her" Chung continued without breaking stride. "So she was in Jou when this guy comes up to her and says he's from the castle of the two cries. That's that big ass birdhouse that stupid Hakuchi thing lives in. He has this official sash thing and everything so his credentials check out. Well, he says that the stupid bird is still alive. Asen made the whole thing up. He massacred every one in the castle of two cries, locked up the dumb bird, and chopped the foot of a random pheasant."   
She huffed in disgust. "Asshole!" This was clearly directed at Asen. In principal he agreed with her assessment.

"After telling the lady general all this, some of Asen's guys arrive and execute the guy, right there in her camp." She continued angrily. 

"What of General Risai?" He asked making an effort to sound calm. Had Asen's "guys" executed her as well? Had the warden simply been toying with him by telling him she was alive?  
"She escaped." Chunghua said with a shrug. "Started telling every one she could find about what had really happened with the Hakuchi and she got a rebel movement going."   
She got to her feet and walked back over to the fire to pick up her sewing and check on the still rousting rabbits.   
"Asen's branded her a traitor, of course.” She rolled her eyes heavenward. “Unsurprisingly, he's saying she was the mastermind behind the Kings assassination." She snarled caustically

Chunghua picked up the sticks the rabbits were skewered on and rotated them so they would cook thoroughly before shoving the ends back in to the side of the fire pit. She started jabbing her needle in and out of the pants she was working on again. "No one with a working brain believes his bullshit. Any one with eyes can see who ended up sitting on the throne. "

She sighed defeatedly. "I've only heard bits and pieces. And I haven't heard a dam thing since coming out here. But what I have heard is that Asen's been burning entire villages left and right trying to exterminate any resistance. He wants Risai in particular, but heck, he’ll torch any town just in case people forget who's in charge."

He was so relieved to hear that Risai was still alive. He felt himself drifting off as Chunghua continued speaking. Soon he was fast asleep.  


()())()()()()())()()()()()()()()()()

She removed the pelts from behind Shou Sokka as he slept and eased him down on to the bed. She put her hand agains his fore head to check his fever. She nodded to herself, noting that his skin felt much cooler now. 

She rolled out her sleeping bag next to the straw mattress he was laying on. Usually people who lived this far north slept together in the same bed regardless of whatever relationship they had to one another. It had to do with sharing body heat. She, on the other hand found the idea of sharing her bed with a sick and severely injured stranger to be perverse and unwise.   
Fang could be his bed warmer. The dog really seemed to like him, which was odd given that fangs first reaction whenever he met someone for the first time was to be wary and standoffish. He even tended to snarl a bit if a stranger tried to pet him with out letting Fang sniff them first.  
There was something decidedly abnormal about the man, and it wasn't just the fact that he had red eyes and was as white as a ghost. She'd only been tending to him for a mere week and his wounds were healing at an astonishing rate that shouldn't have been possible given his emaciated body and poor health. 

She might not be as strong or skilled as some members of her family but she'd inherited the ability to tell lies from truth sure enough.   
Still, she'd already ascertained that he'd been tortured and shot with the standard arrows used by the imperial army. It could have been part of an elaborate ruse to catch her off guard. But now that she'd spoken to him and teased some portion of the truth out of him that clearly wasn't the case. He hadn't been sent here to look for her. He truly was what he appeared to be, a fugitive on the run from Asen. That and he'd been telling the truth about being one of the king's loyal men.

She knew he'd lied about his name and true rank but that didn't matter. She'd lied to him too after all. The important thing was that he wasn't her enemy and had a genuine hatred for the usurper Asen. That was a tremendous relief. 

She wouldn’t have to kill him. 

She had been so alone after her mother died. The thought that she might have spent so much time an effort trying to save him only to end up killing him if he turned out to be one of Asen’s agents..... She shuttered at the thought. 

She walked back to the fire pit. Now that the rabbits had been cooked and stored for tomorrow's breakfast she could bank the coals for the night. She reached out to the fire and heaped ashes over the hot coals with her bare hands. 

She turned to regard her sleeping guest. He looked peaceful as he slept. That was good, he'd been feverish and tormented by nightmares for the past few nights and he needed all the rest he could get. 

She'd told him the truth when she'd said he was safe here, and she'd told him the truth when she'd said she wouldn't stop him from leaving when he was fully healed. 

"But", she thought, "If I'm being honest with my self the sooner he leaves the better. The more time he spends with me the more likely it is he'll see something."

()()()()()()()()()()()(()()()()()()()  
Learn Chinese

Risai 李斎  
Ryuushi Risai — 劉李斎 (axe+plum+purification)  
Hakuchi- 白雉- White + Pheasant 

A note on future chapters-- I'm sorry that these last two chapters have been a lot of sitting and talking. I’m working over the outline of the next chapter right now, and there’s a cool fight scene in it I promise. Also, Gyousou is going to get better fast via montage. The next few chapters after that are pretty much already done I just need to go overt to catch typos. 

Next --After the Fall


	5. After the Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We meet one of Gyousou's old friends, he's a really nice guy.

Six years ago

Snow flakes fell gently from the dark night sky to swirl around the streets and peaked roofs of Iron Harvest. Nestled below on the bank of the Mother Serpent river, Iron Harvest was one of the largest cities in the foot hills of the Barrier Mountains, which divided Bun from Zui province. The city was an important hub for commerce, what with being located along the royal road that led to the capital in Zui province and being on the western bank of the Mother Serpent, one of the largest navigable rivers in the north. Indeed it’s location had played a role in the growth of the ancient city. 

Like all cities in the Twelve kingdoms it was laid out on a grid and surrounded by a massive stone wall, that served to keep out yoma and bandits alike. Inside the city there were the other concentric rectangular walls partitioning the districts assigned to the farmers, laborers, wealthier craftsmen, and finally the noble families and the officials of the city government. But there were remnants of older walls that had been left in ruin or only partly dismantled as the city grew over the years. The government buildings were to the north inside the inner most walls. The houses of the elite and the nobles were in the next inner ring of walls. Then, continuing outward there was the districts and the homes of the craftsmen and artisans, the western section of which severed as the important industrial district. 

Swirling snow intermixed with black smoke as it fell toward the ground, illuminated with a warm orange glow form below. The smoke bellowed from several large honey comb shaped blast furnaces in the city’s industrial district. 

It was said that the city had started as a modest mining camp close to the iron mine a little ways upstream. According to legend this was the site where the first steel had been produced in the history of the twelve kingdoms. Ever sense then Iron Harvest had remained the center of Tai’s advances in the sciences of metallurgy and mechanics, as well as an important mining and commerce center. 

Even late at night after the minors had returned home to their families the blast furnaces kept burning like industrious volcanos. Their chimney’s billowing smoke high in to the sky. Most of this activity was powered by a relatively small east flowing tributary of the Mother Serpent, known as the Dragonfly river. Multiple water wheels powered bellows that continuously pumped oxygen in the the furnaces fueling the process that turned raw ore in to pig iron.

The Dragonfly River more or less bisected the city. It flowed from the west, cutting through the city’s industrial center diagonally. Much of the metal refining facilities in Iron Harvest were on the western side of the industrial district in deference to fengshui, which dictated that metal had a favorable association with that direction just as fire is the element associated with the south. In any case the Dragonfly River was dotted with waterwheels all along it’s length as it passed through the industrial district. Ultimately the Dragonfly River slid through the city to meet the Mother Serpet on the eastern side of the cities outer wall.

The great iron works and steel foundries were owned and operated by the Touda clan. The pig iron produced in the cities furnaces would either be cast in to ingots to be exported or sent on to be processed in to steel by the many foundrys in the city. Steel would either be cast in to bars, or shaped in to weapons or tools before being branded with the mark of the Touda clan, and sold domestically or shipped abroad to the other kingdoms. 

Moving outward from the cities center, the tiled roofs of the inner city gave way to the thatch and wood roofs of the residential districts of the outer city that were home to minors and farmers. The farmers worked the surrounding farm land to provide food for the city. The seasonal flooding of the Mother Serpent made the area fertile and good for raising grains and vegetables. Wile the minors worked in the vast iron mine upstream that had been owned by the Touda family for generations. It was formally called Iron Flower’s Gift, but the minors usually just called it the Iron Flower mine. 

As the snow drifted down from the night sky firelights from the great steel and iron works as well as the smaller lights of shops and households of, minors, craftsmen, nobles and farmers that lived there made the city sparkle like a chest full of jewels. 

There were brasiers all along the cities outer walls at regular intervals, casting their light in to the darkness so that the guards atop the wall had light to see by. There was one brasier to either side of the cities five gates. 

The city had been laid out on a grid and effectively had three main streets two that ran east to west and one that ran north to south. The upper Main Street cut threw the city’s northern part going threw the districts reserved for the government officials and the district reserved for noble families, as well as the lower districts that surrounded them. Lower Main Street cut across the more southern part of the city, only running through the district reserved for craftsmen, industry and the residential district of the farmers and minors. The final Main Street rand north to south and was unimaginatively dubbed Main Street. It began at the cities southern gate and divided the city in half as it cut through all the districts and ended at the government offices in the north. 

One guard paused on his patrol when he reached the gatehouse on the south gate. There he stopped to warm his aching hands by one of the brasiers and talk with a colleague who was stationed at the gate. Presently both guards noticed movement out on the horizon. Something small, that stood out darkly against the field of snow was rapidly moving toward the city . 

()())()()()()()()()()()()()()()

A lone man in a cloak approached the city at speed. The beast he rode upon was similar to a horse but it was twice the size of a regular horse. Its fur was a blue-green color and long gazelle like horns protruded from either side of its white main. This was a Kiju, a tamable demonic beast, specifically it was a type called a sansui, Unlike other types of kiju it was incapable of flying, however it was more than capable of covering great distances over land. The rider brought the sansui to an abrupt halt in front of the gate. 

"Hay you up there!" He called out. 

"Who goes there and what business do you have with Iron Harvest? Speak your piece or get lost!" The gate guard yelled down grumpily. 

The man rained back his kiju as it pranced nervously. " I am lieutenant Chen. I have a message for the heir of the Touda clan, Touda Enju!" 

The rider pulled his shabby gray cloak back revealing the black armor that was the uniform of the army of the left. There was clear evidence of battle damage on the armor and the man was clearly bleeding from a gash on his upper arm and there was a smaller cut on his face. Blood glistened in the fire light cast down from the brasiers on either side of the gate. 

"I'm on urgent business from the army of the left! Please I must see master Touda! It's a matter of life and death!" 

"Let the man in you idiot!" A huge muscular man with a long gray braid falling down his back walked up behind him. His dark red armor bore the coiled golden snake insignia of the Touda clan. 

"If the young master found out you turned away a member of the royal army he'd have your head." He smiles nastily at the city watchmen." Besides how much trouble could one man be, I think we can take him if he tries anything." He hefted a big spear over his shoulder.   
  
They let Lieutenant Chen in and sent a messenger to the Touda family’s mansion near the center of the city. The houses of the elite and the nobles were in the second to last inner walled district with the city’s other wealthy families, the innermost district being reserved for the city government. The Touda family’s mansion was by far the largest of all the mansions of Iron Harvest and sat at the southmost side of the noble’s district. Some of the locals had taken to calling it the Phoenix nest, partly in jest and partly out of respect. 

The Touda family was one of the oldest families in all of Tai, their lineage was said to stretch back to the age of legends. In fact , it was even said that it had been the clans founder who had been the first person to work iron in to steel. In all that time they had become a clan renowned for their prowess as iron minors and black smiths famous for producing the finest steel and tokijen weaponry. Such weaponry bore enchantments that prevented the wounds they inflicted form healing. Tokijin were typically used to kill yoma but were also deadly against immortal sennin. 

The tokijen weapons produced by the Touda family were highly sought after throughout the twelve kingdoms. The raw unshaped steel the Touda clan exported was also highly praised, but no smith that worked it could reproduce the fine craftsmanship and flawless blades of the weapons forged by the Touda clan. It was said that a blade made with Touda steel rarely needed sharpening and never failed to cut through armor or bone.

However, most of the tokijin produced by the Touda were never exported over the sea to the other kingdoms. About a third of the weapons produced by the Touda were sold to the Government of Tai, or manufactured for the Tai military specifically. For generations the Touda had maintained contracts with Tai’s ministry of Summer to supply Tai’s armed forces with Tokjin. It was said that every king of Tai had made a point to renew those contracts with the Touda shortly after ascending to the throne. That was just how influential the Touda clan was said to be.  
  
Iron Harvest was the main administrative hub for the mining, iron refining, steel forging, and manufacturing operations run by the Touda clan in this part of the Barrier Mountains. Technically the Touda clans “main” house was in the capital Kouki in Zui Province nestled among the houses of Tai’s other aristocratic families. However, much of the Touda family’s actual business was conducted here in Bun province, and Iron Harvest itself had grown up around the Touda family’s mining operations. Hence why the Touda family and Enju himself, had such influence over the city’s governing. That was why one of their house guards had been stationed at the gate along with regular city guards. 

(()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()).

The interior of the South gatehouse was illuminated by the dancing light of the oil lamps on the walls. There was a roaring fire in the hearth that many of the off duty staff had clustered around as they watched as Chen paced the length of the gatehouse anxiously. 

Chen wasn’t particularly tall, lightly built, fair skinned, and clean-shaven. He looked to be in his mid twenties or so and had dark hair that was tied in a topknot. It was pleasantly warm in the gatehouse but Chen had not removed his heavy winter clothing. The wounds on his upper arm and cheek had been seen to by the gatehouse staff but he still looked as though he was in pain. He grimaced as he turned on his heel to walk the length of the gatehouse again.

Suddenly the door opened letting a gust of cold air and whirling snow flakes in. A contingent of five burly men and women all dressed in the dark red uniform armor of the Touda clans house guards glided in to the room. The huge woman at the front of the formation glared at the gate garrison staff who’d been loitering around the room. Then her brown eyes fixed on the Touda house guard with the long gray braid who’d convinced the other guards to let the rider in. The woman gave him a quick nod. He nodded back to her and then barked an order for the rest of the garrison to clear out of the room. They all field out after him. 

Chen nervously scanned the five Touda house guards. Except for the woman at the front, their faces were all hidden under thick brown woolen cloaks, and they all seemed to be wearing identical red and brown uniforms with the coiled serpent crest of the the Touda clan on their brest plates. Was Touda Enju among them? 

His heart sank at the thought. Suerly, the son of such an eminent family would consider the matter of an urgent message so late at night to be a nuisance and he must have sent his underlings in his stead. Chen felt despair rise in him, he had been ordered to deliver his message to Enju and no one else. Was he about to fail in his mission? 

The man in the middle threw back the hood of his brown cloak and stepped to the front, with a wide grin on his face. He had a gleaming white smile that practically shown against his dark brown skin. Cobalt blue eyes flickered with amusement in the dim light from the oil lamps. The man’s hair was dark red, nearly rust colored, and seemed to glow in the firelight. His bangs were very messy though most of his shoulder length hair was tied back in a semblance of a short respectable tail. His chin was covered with short reddish stubble that looked like the sort of growth that persisted despite daily shavings. He was middle aged, broad shouldered and very muscular though it looked as though he was developing a paunch about his middle. Despite the fact that it was the middle of the night this man seemed to be wide awake and cheerful.

"Hay there, I'm Touda Enju! You said you had some urgent life and death business with me?" Said the son of the patriarch of one of the wealthiest and most powerful clans in Tai. Enju was around five and a half feet tall making him a bit shorter than the average man, but that was enough to grin down at the rider in an intimidating manner.

Chen was surprised both by the man’s general cheerfulness and the strangeness of this sudden introduction. Had Enju come here dressed identically with his guards as a ploy of some sort? 

Chen dropped to his hands and knees in a kowtow. "Pleas forgive my intrusion and the lateness of the hour-"

"Cut that out!" Enju interjected. "I was told you said this was life and death! So spit it out already and cut out that formal crap!" 

Chen looked up nervously, only to find Enju giving him a friendly smile. 

"Uh, yes sir." Chen said as he stood up. 

“Sir my name is Chen I'm a humble lieutenant in the land cavalry of the army of the left.” He paused then and shifted his gaze between the four other guards. “I was told to deliver my message to you, and you alone, sir....” He paused meaningfully. 

Enju shrugged, “You can talk in front of my guards, I can personally attest to their trustworthiness. Is that good enough for you, lieutenant Chen?” He said mildly. 

Chen considered, sweat ran down his face as he looked down at his hands. Chen didn’t want to argue, there wasn’t time, and Enju was here, that was the important thing. He took a deep breath and spoke hurriedly before he could second guess himself. “ I need you to come with me immediately, only bring a small number of guards whom you trust completely, and we're going to need medical supplies, lots of medical supplies for treating wounds. Oh and you and your men can't have any thing on them that would identify them as members of the Touda clan. We need to take regular horses not kiju. And we have to hurry because there's a life at stake!" He pauses as if making checks on a mental list. "I think that's every thing, sir." He said after a moment. 

Enju stroked his stubbly chin and looked around at his guards. He seemed to be making eye contact with each of them in turn, as if they were having a silent conversation. Then he turned back to Chen. 

“Is this about the general?” Enju asked. 

Chen nodded 

Enju smiled predatorily. “Well why didn’t you just say that? Honestly, it's about time he called me out of retirement! I thought I'd die of boredom!" He turned to the tall woman who’d been at the head of his guards "Lian, we have a lot to do. So I need you to see if you can get the gate garrison to give us some supplies. Come on! We’re wasting time just standing around here!”   
The tall brown eyed woman, Lian, rolled her eyes heavenword and took two other guards with her through the door gatehouse staff had left through earlier. Chen saw that her long black hair was tied in a braid like the other guards.

Enju turned back to Chen. “Now, here’s what we're going to do." He began. 

())()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Not long afterword Chen weighted atop his sansui. He was hidden in the brush by Iron Harvest’s southeast gate. He nervously looked to the sky, worried that the cloud cover might be hiding enemies on flying mounts. The gentle snow flurry was picking up and becoming more of a blizzard around him.

Presently a small group of nondescript people on horseback came riding out. As they pulled up beside Chen, he saw that Touda Enju was at the head of the group. 

"All right! We're here! Now lead the way." Enju said, grinning eagerly. 

"Yes sir, this way" Chen replied. 

“I hope the general knows what he’s doing, putting so much faith in this scruffy overeager nobleman.” Chen thought as he led the riders way from the warm lights of civilization and deep into the dark wilderness.

A wile later, they came to a sheltered glen full of iron wood pines. Chen dismounted and motioned for the group to do the same as he led them in to the trees. Enju dismounted with the rest of his retainers, and followed on Chen’s heels.

"This way. He's over here." He led them to the base of the largest tree in the glenn. It’s lower branches were wide and massive, forming a natural shelter against the elements. 

"In here sir." Chen said softly as he held the branches back so that Enju could see the form of the white haired man in the splendid black armor laying injured and unconscious beneath the shelter of the tree’s branches. Gyousou lay there against the trunk of the massive ironwood pine, breathing shallowly with a look of pain on his darkly tanned face. 

Enju suddenly grabbed Chen by his collar and hauled him up off his feet. “What the hell is the meaning of this? Who did this to him?! Talk you bastard! Why did you just leave him out here?! He could freeze you stupid southern city boy!”

Enju shook the smaller man violently, enraged by the sight of the injured general turned king. 

"Stop that master Enju!" One of the house guards, the muscular woman named Lian put a hand on Enju's shoulder. "Your not helping anyone by strangling this man." 

"Okay”, Enju said as he took a deep breath, “your right Lian." he said to the woman. 

He set Chen back on the ground and patted his shoulder apologetically. "Sorry about that. That was inappropriate of me. You did a good job getting him here." 

Enju turned away and ducked under the branches to kneel down by Gyousou's side. Gyousou remained unconscious as Enju looked him over. 

Gyousou's chest rose and fell shallowly. His left hand clutched at a puncture in his armor above his stomach. Dried and clotted dark red blood seeped between his fingers. Part of a broken spear is lodged in his hip. Gyousous brown skin had an unhealthy paler. There was more blood an the ground around him.

"How did this happen?” Enju demanded darkly. “And why didn’t you bring him in to town with you?”

"Well sir we were ambushed by the rebels on the road to Tetsui.” The words came tumbling out of Chen in a sudden downpour. It was as though all the stress and fear he'd felt over the last several hours as he’d feled with is wounded king were now forcing the words out of him. “They were mounted of flying kiju and soon forced his majesty and the air divisions to the ground. But in the mitts of the battle just as my cavalry unit was making its way to assist his majesty..." He trailed off as he noticed what Enju was doing. 

Enju unfastened his heavy fur cloak and bent down. He gently lifted his king slightly to wrap it around him. In the proses something fell off the Kings lap. Enju looked down and saw that it was the severed remains of a belt. The buckle was a burnished silver plate depicting a galloping wild stallion.

Enju remembered when the king of Han presented it to Gyousou at his coronation. He’d gone to the event with his wife and father as well as representatives of the other great noble families of Tai. He hadn’t been able to speak with is former general then. Not just any one could approach the throne during formal ceremonies and there had been the representatives form the other eleven kingdoms that took presidents over a mere nobleman. Enju doubted Gyousou had even been able to see him in the crowd from up on the throne. Still Enju had gone to the coronation, both as a representative of the Touda clan and, unofficially to support his former commanding officer. 

Now, as Enju looked down at the severed leather belt he realized that the it had been sliced at the back. His cobalt eyes widened as he reached around Gyousou's back to find another stab wound matching the one on his stomach. He pulled his hand back to find it covered in sticky dark red blood. 

Chen swallows. "It was the soldiers from the army of the right. They nocked him form his saddle with that spear. After that, I saw them form a ring around him all in their white uniforms. They attacked his majesty. It was one of their officers who ran him through, sir. They tried to assassinate him. I was barely able to get him out of there and escape." 

Enju wrapped Gyousou tightly in his cloak and lifted him up in his arms. Enju was shorter than average but he was muscular and built like a bear, he was easily able to lift the taller man. His house guards pulled back the tree branches for him as he passed them. 

"His majesty insisted that I bring him here and ordered me to go to Iron Harvest by myself to ask for you." Chen continued uneasily as Enju walked past him. 

Enju stopped beside Chen for a moment and closed his eyes thoughtfully as he held the unconscious king. "Assassination huh? And by his own army no less. Dam, no telling how far up this goes.”

He turned to face Chen with a sad look on his face. “No wonder he had you leave him here. If you’d brought him in to Iron Harvest word would get around.” 

Enju sighed resolutely. “ Well, we can’t leave him out here.”

"Hay Lian, he's heavier than he looks help me get him on my house will you!" Enju called to his retainer. 

Lian took the king form Enju’s arms to allow her master mount his horse. Once Enju was situated in the saddle Lian handed him up to Enju.

"Alright every one, mount up!" Enju shouted. 

Almost as one the Chen and entire contingent mounted their beasts. 

Enju trotted his horse up next to Chen’s snasui. "Follow me and stay close. I know a good place where we can hide and treat the kings injuries.”   
He paused then and looked up at the worsening blizzard. “ This storm is only going to get worse." It was dark, the sun having set hours ago, the wind was kicking up and the snow was almost coming down horizontally. 

“This should be enough to cover our tracks.” He said to himself. 

()()()()()()()()()(()()(()()()()()  
Later  
Gyousou wake up on a military style cot. He slowly opened his eyes and found that he was in a stone chamber illuminated by the flickering light of oil lamps. 

“Hay boss! Long time no see.” Drawled a familiar voice. Something of a Bun province accent had crept in to the speakers original Zui accent but Gyousou would recognize that voice anywhere. 

“Enju!” Gyousou tuned on to his side and saw an older version of the man who’d once served under him. 

Enju was slouching comfortably in a folding chair with his legs crossed. There was an oil lamp on the simple foldable camp table in front of Enju as well asa pitcher of water and a platter of hard rolls. There was another oil lamp on a tall rough iron stand in the corner behind Enju as well, but there was enough light that he could tell that there must be other lamps he couldn’t see form his current vantage point.   
Enju looked so much older than the last time he’d seen him. He had some how pictured Enju still being a young man in his early twenties. Then again he’d known Enju would look older, but it was still shocking to see Enju grown into a distinguished adult. 

“So Chen was able to get to Iron Harvest.” Gyousou said as he pushed himself in to a sitting position. He grunted as sudden pain ignited through the stab wound in his back and gut. He doubled over in agony clutching his gut with his right hand as he braced his left hand assigns the cot to keep himself upright. 

“I wouldn’t try moving around too much if I were you sir. Wight it’s you majesty now right? Sorry forgot for a moment there.” He said as he rubbed the back of his head in embarrasment.

Defeatedly Gyousou eased himself back down against the cot. He realized that he was no longer wearing his armor, instead he was dressed in a heavy wool robe, with another robe of some lighter softer material under it. Beneath the new clothing he could feel multiple layers of bandages over his wounds, particularly the big stab wound in his back and gut. 

"Did Chen tell you what happened?” Gyousou asked as his right hand pressed against his gut. The pain had dissipated slightly. His left hand He gently felt around the spear wound in his hip.   
  
Enju closed his eyes and nodded somberly. “Some officer in white armor ran you through? Yeah, he told me.”  
Enju looked thoughtful for a moment. “Fortunately for you, your would be assassin completely botched the job.”

"Really? Because from what I can tell he made a pretty decent attempt to assassinate me." Gyousou groaned between clenched teeth as the pain subsided. 

"Well that's just the thing.” Enjoy said with a smirk. 

“He skewered you right enough. But he did it with a sword that wasn’t a tokijin. It didn't have a toki enchantment on it, so the wound started healing up right after it was pulled out." Enju pantomimed pulling a sword backward. 

"Are you certain?" Gyousou looked at Enju skeptically, as he carefully eased himself upright again. Moving slowly made the pain bearable. 

"I know exactly what tokijin weapons can do to. I saw wounds caused by them when I worked for you sir, and my family business is all about making and selling tokijin weaponry. I know what I'm talking about." Enju assured him. He placed his right hand over his heat, "Trust me, if the son of a bitch who stabbed you had been using a proper tokijin sword, you would have bled out long before your man got you to Iron Harvest."

Gyousou winced. "I would prefer to discuss something other than tokijin weaponry at the moment." He gave Enju a pointed look. 

"Yeah, sorry. I'm just glad your alive sir." Enju said apologetically.

"As am I." Gyousou managed a week smile. Then, he takes a moment to scan his surroundings before he turned back to Enju. 

"Where are we exactly? This doesn't look like one of your family's mansions." He nods to indicate the small sparsely furnished stone room. 

Aside from the lamp on the table in front of Enju and the one in the corner behind him, there were two other lamps in the room on tall rough iron stands, one by the foot of his cot, the other in the opposite corner by the door. Enju’s chair sat facing the door, a second chair sat opposite Enju at the table. These were the only furnishings in the small stone room, and the walls were unevenly cut gray stone. 

"Oh! This is an old water gem mine!" Enju poured water from a pitcher into two tin camp mugs. He took a sip from one and nodded to himself after a moment, as if deciding the quality of the water was acceptable. Then, he moved his chair closer to the cot so he could hand the other mug to Gyousou.

Gyousou took it and drank greedily. He was terribly thirsty.   
Enju gave his former general a mischievous grin. "You see, the previous owner is kind of a pal of mine we’re not competitors but we're both in the mining business. His company mines gems, the Touda family mines iron.” Engu made a see-saw motion with both of his upraised palms. 

He abruptly made a throwing away gesture with his right hand. “Anyway,” he continued, “when this mine's gem fountain started to show signs of drying up I asked him to sell it to me."

"And what use would you have for a used up gem mine?”Gyousou asked as he raised an eyebrow. “ I take it you didn't just buy it on a whim." 

Gyousou took another sip from the mug .

"Dam straight!" Enju snapped his fingers. "Sharp as ever general! Er- I mean your majesty." He corrected himself awkwardly.

"Please continue." Gyousou encouraged. He did not wish to make his old friend and former subordinate uncomfortable, because of his recently acquired royal status.. He was enjoying spending time with Enju once more despite the dyer circumstances. Besides, he may not have an interest in mining per say but he found himself becoming genuinely curious about Enju's interest in the mine. 

"As you wish sir- I mean sire." Enju gave him a somewhat sheepish smile as he bowed. Then he immediately jumped back in to the narrative. "You see, a couple of surveyors who work for the family had been scouting around the other side of this mountain." 

Enju set his mug down in the middle of his lap and pointed to his left knee.  
"Wile they were out there they found a pretty extensive natural cave system. They got so deep in that they walked into an abandoned part of my gem mining pal's operation all the way on this side of the mountain." As he spoke he moved his finger around from his left knee to his right. He stopped and waggled his eyebrows mischievously at Gyousou. 

"Told the guy I was interested in the mine because my people had found iron ore deposits in the area. I've been moving surveying equipment in to the mine wile he's been preparing to ship out his last batch of gems and mine tailings." Enju laughed. "The beauty of it is that no one knows about the tunnel except for me, my father and a few select family surveyors and house guards. The even better part is that on paper I gave him the money to bale out his business. There's no mention of the mine in the records. Call it a clerical error. All the official record shows is that the mine exists and recently stopped producing water gems. There's no connection to the Touda family at all, it's the perfect hiding place!" Enju said proudly.

"I see, and what exactly were you planning on doing with this 'perfect hiding place'? Nothing illegal I hope?" He said teasingly. Gyousou's grin is a bit tight with pain but it was genuine.

"Illegal?!” Enju replied in mock indignation as he grandiosely placed a hand on his chest. “What, me?" 

Then Enju shrugged. "Naw! I was planning to tell you about it once my people finished mapping out the cave system. As it is we've only found one rout that leads to the other side. It's pretty tricky though, there are a lot of places where you have to crawl along single file. I was hoping to find a more passable tunnel before I brought it to your attention sir... sire."

Enju paused and took a sip from his mug.   
"As it is I was planning on stationing a contingent of Touda clan house guards here, and in the caves on the other side to provide security for the convoy routs and hunt bandits. I figured you were expecting me to do something like that when you sent me that letter a wile back, when it was pretty clear the vain king wasn't going to be sitting on the throne for much longer."

"Yes," Gyousou nodded. " The Touda clan's house guards have had a reputation for being formidable and disciplined fighters for generations. When I asked you to use your clans influence in Bun province I was hoping you'd take the initiative and use your house guards to provide stability in the region."

"Well heck." Enju said a bit embarrassed. "I respect the boys in brown but come on, we both know the Bun provincial army isn't the military force it needs to be, especially with those Rebels who've been popping up here recently!" 

(Provincial army soldiers wear brown armor)   
"Honestly that rebel movement was suspicious before now but with what's happened now, " Enju gestured to Gyousou's stab wound. "It makes more sense." 

"How so?" Gyousou asked as he straitened his shoulders. 

"Okay, well," Enju hesitated, “have you been getting my letters?"

"What letters?" Gyousou asked raising a white eyebrow. "I haven't heard from you sense you wrote to tell me you'd been made the chief overseer of the Touda clans operations in the Barrier Mountains and you were working out of your family's house in Iron Harvest, and that was some time ago."

"Dam it! I knew it!" Enju shouted as he angrily leapt to his feet. He paced back and forth across the length of the room mug still in hand. "I knew my letters weren't getting through!"

He stopped pacing and turned back to his king. "I've been getting your letters sir. But, I noticed that you weren't responding to anything I'd said in my letters to you."

Gyousou pondered this. This clearly indicated that parties unknown had been tampering with his correspondence. And sense Enju had been receiving his letters the problem would seem to be with his staff in the palace.  
"Well, I've been noticing that the rebels are extremely well armed and funded. I mean your man that lieutenant Chen fellow, he said they had flying kiju." He paused and stroked the reddish stubble on his chin. " I think he said they were one of the bird type ones." 

Enju looked back at his king and resumed. "Not particularly rare sure, but didn’t it strike you as odd that they'd have the resources to get there hands on kiju of any kind?"

Gyousou gave his former subordinate a, “just who do you think I am” look. 

"Okay, that was a stupid question." Enju admitted with a shrug. 

"Here's something you probably hadn't thought of”, Enju continued as he sat back down, “you’ve probably been hearing reports that the Ainu and Yuan tribes are fighting beside the Rebels and participating in their little hit and run attacks.” “Am I right?", Enju asked expectantly. 

"Yes I've been getting reports to that effect." Gyousou said mildly as her took another sip. 

"Well, it's all bull!” Enju said bluntly. “Those aren't really Ainu or Yuan guys. Those are just our rebel friends playing dress up. My people apprehended some of them. You know how the Ainu and Yuan speak different languages, right. I mean, since their kikyaku. Well these guys tried speaking some made up gobbeldy- gook to my men not knowing I'd hired on a Yuan translator to work with that contingent.” Enjoy laughed and shaped his knee “They crapped their pants when they realized we were on to them." 

"You employ translators that speak the Ainu and Yuan languages?"

"What, yoma don't distinguish between the kikyaku and the Tai people, and I'm in the business of selling weapons that kill Yoma. Why wouldn't I do business with them?”, Enju said defensively. “And since I'm not a sennin I need to hire professional translators. Heck I've got a Kikayku on the pay roll who speaks 7 different languages. Apparently he worked as a 'corporate translator' when he lived in Hourai. Really cleaver guy." 

"I'm sorry that was a foolish question." Gyousou held up a hand to fend off the barrage of information. He understood about yoma preying on Tai and kikyaku alike, but he was more than a little disconcerted by the idea of kikyaku armed with tokijin. He decided that he would have to have a conversation with Enju about that later. 

"So what happened to these rebels you caught? The ones posing as Ainu and Yuan?" Gyousou asked. 

"I handed them off to one of my contacts in the Bun provincial army. He was the captain of a local garrison, no one you'd know." Enju looked at the ground as he clenched his fist in frustration. "Unfortunately I found out later that some time after that the rebels escaped before they could get any information out of them and that my contact was killed trying to stop them. Any one with half a working brain would find that suspicious don't you think?" 

"I agree." Gyousou nodded. "Knowing you, I take it you conducted your own investigation in to the matter."

Enju grinned broadly at him. "Well boss, you didn't make me major of the first air recon battalion for nothing!" He paused. "But your not going to like what I found." Enju leaned back in the folding chair.

"Well I don't like being stabbed in the back either, and it's quite possible that what you've unearthed is related." Gyousou said coolly. 

"Right," Enju sighed looking deflated for a moment. "Well, I was able to meet with one of my contacts subordinates after the fact, a skinny kid named Li. Turns out that night a guy who identified him self as a liaison with the royal army-" Enju held up a hand to forestall the question he knew was coming. "-I asked, Li said that the guys identification token didn't indicate which royal army he was assigned to."

He rolled his eyes. "Not all that suspicious in it self this guys token was endorsed with the seal of the minister of war and that's pretty standard, as far as tokens issued to liaisons go." 

"Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't you give the minister of summer job to Major General Haboku?"

Gyousou nodded, his eyes narrowed as he considered. Enju was right, he didn't like where this is going.

Enju looked back to Gyousou. "Here's the thing though, the guy asks to meet with the rebel prisoners , alone! He says he doesn't even want a stenographer in the room with him, which is totally against procedure. He doesn't interrogate them all that long really and since he refused to have a stenographer in the room there's no record of what happened during that time. About an hour after Mr. liaison leaves the prisoners broke out. According to Li, it looked like they picked the lock with tools from a locksmith’s kit. But that wasn't the only weird thing. My contact, the garrison commander, he was stabbed by one of the rebels who strangely enough had a toki enchanted dagger on him. " 

"Tiny thing," Enju holds up his hands a bout five inches apart. "The sort of thing some pansy aristocrat would carry concealed up a sleeve or something."

Enju moved his chair a bit closer to the cot. "Now, these men were searched of course and any weapons they had were confiscated. So the real question is: how did a locksmith’s kit and a toki dagger get in to the rebels’ cell?"

"I see, and you think that this liaison gave them these items."

"Doesn't take a genius to add two and two and get four!", Enju said simply as he folded his arms. 

"Also the rebels set fire to the garrison office on their way out, " Enju continued. "Probably in an attempt to destroy any evidence they were there. " 

"And why would they do that?" Gyousou asked, sensing that Enju had more unpleasant details to add to this story. 

"Li said the garrison commander recognized one of them as a soldier from the Bun provincial army, and he was thinking the rest were from the provincial army too."

"I'm thinking that parties unknown are using bun provincial soldiers disguised as kikyaku tribes men to divert every ones attention on to the tribesmen. Also some one in the capital sent this liaison guy to cover their tracks. So, it's safe to say that someone in the capital is benefiting from what's going on here in bun. I have a theory about that but....." Enju trailed off giving his former commander and king a meaningful look. 

"What?" Gyousou asked somewhat defensively.

"Well I have a lot of friends in Bun province. My friends took notice when a lot of, shall we say, crooked politicians assigned here were recalled to the capital with some very official, one might almost say royal-ish, looking court orders. All of these politicians, including Bun’s notoriously fat and corrupt lord governor, have been recalled to the capital only to either be removed from office, end up in prison, or quietly disappear never to be seen again. So, I'm guessing you went hunting, as it were?" Enju coked his head to the side as he gave Guyous a knowing grin. 

"You’re rather well informed. It's good to know that you've been keeping busy." Gyousou said, returning Enju’s grin. 

"Sure I'm retired but I haven't gone senile! Setting fire to the brush to flush out the big game is just your style sir. "

Enju sighed. "I don't have anything solid, but there are rumors that there's a whole system of undocumented gem mines further north in the Barrier Mountains. And these illegal mines have been shipping the gems out of the country, selling them on the black market in other kingdoms and using the money to fund a rebel army right here in Bun. The rumors I've been hearing say that this has been going on for a wile. Way before the Vain King’s fall.” Enju waved his hand expansively for emphasis. 

Enju stroked his stubbly chin. Gyousou remembered that Enju, had always had persistent stubble on his face ever since he first met him. Back then Enju had been a very junior second lieutenant at the astonishingly young age of 18. In some ways Enju had reminded him of himself at that age. Even now when Enju grinned at him, it was as if the lines of age blurred away and all he could see was the young officer who used to be his subordinate. He was clever, and charismatic, a natural born leader and well suited to work in reconesence. He couldn’t help but think if Enju had stayed in the military he would have promoted him to lieutenant colonel, a rank that granted a listing on the registry of immortals and would have made him a sennin. But, it was not to be. Enju had retired to help his father with the “family business”, as it were, and to spend more time with his wife and then, two-year-old baby. 

Gyousou noted that it looked like Enju had finally committed to growing a mustache and seemed to be growing a goatee to go with it. He realized that Enju was in his forties now, making him physically older that himself. Yet, here he was, still thinking of Enju as the eager young man he’d once taken under his wing so long ago. 

"I'd figured,” Enju continued, “that someone was making money off of an illegal mine or two some where in Bun but I didn't think this went all the way to the capital. And I didn't figure the people involved would attempt regicide!" 

"Well I suppose we both under estimated our opponents."Gyousou said sardonically. Then he looked thoughtful before turning back to Enju, "How much of this did you put in your letters to me?"

"Just some suspicions about rebels dressing up like Ainu and Yuan. The incident with the liaison happened after I figured out someone was intercepting my letters to you. I kept writing so that no one got suspicious but only about stuff, like the weather, fishing, family gossip and the like. You know, boring stuff normal people talk about. " 

The ex-general turned king who’d been appointed by the heavens, and the nobleman who’s family supplied about two thirds of the kingdoms tokijin and hunted rebels and bandits for fun both chuckled over the idea that they could ever have a boring normal conversation. 

"Enju? How long have I been here?" Gyousou asked after a moment. 

"Two days, sir." Enju said simply. 

"Isn't someone going to notice your absence and become suspicious?" Gyousou asked concernedly. 

"Nope. " Enju beamed.   
"Right now no one knows I'm out here. See one of my house guards also serves as my body double. Right now, as far as any one who isn't currently in this mine is concerned, I'm out doing safety inspections in several of the clan's iron minds way to the east of here. And I'm going to bee out of Iron Harvest for a full week. Made the arrangements before I left with Chen." 

“How is Lieutenant Chen?” Gyousou asked. 

“A bit shaken up by this whole thing. It’s not every day you see someone try to assassinate your king.” Enju shrugged. “He’s a sturdy guy though and level headed too. Really reliable guy, hauling you all the way from Tetsuie to Iron Harvest on a sansui with out being followed, dam!”  
Enju broke out in to a big grin and ran his hand through his rust-colored hair somewhat embarrassedly. “For a land cavalry man making a getaway like that is dammed impressive! You sure he wasn’t with recon?” 

“He may have trained in recon.” Gyousou offered. He wasn’t familiar with every soldiers record off the top of his head. 

“Well, he’s going to be an asset to us. Especially with his skills.” Enju said thoughtfully. 

“You sound like you have a plan.” Gyousou probed. 

“Well, I’ve been sitting around with not much to do for two days. I’ve had plenty of time to come up with a plan!” Enju said proudly. Enju might have a few lines at the corners of his eyes and a few gray hairs at his temples but he was still as energetic as always. 

Enju sat up and squared his shoulders. “So, as it stands when my double gets back from doing a tour of the mining operations to the east, I’ll be traveling back to the Touda’s main house in the capital. That’s three days from now roughly. I wrote my father at the main house to let him know what’s happened here. Don’t worry, I wrote the letter in code. I developed my own cipher after I figured out you weren’t getting my letters. I don’t think anyones been interfering with my mail to the rest of the family but there’s no point taking chances.”

Gyousou steeped his fingers and nodded, indicating for Enju to continue. 

“Now when I ship out for home, I’ll be bringing you along. We’ll say you’re a minor who was injured in an accident that happened wile I was on inspection.”   
Enju went on in a comically dramatic tone “You’re some poor guy who came to Bun to strike it rich in the gem mines. You were tragically injured in a cave in and don’t have any family in the area. Your wounds are so bad that I’m taking you to the Touda main house for treatment.” 

Enju smirked and continued more normally. “I figure we can completely cover your face in bandages if it looks like we’ll have a hard time getting past the checkpoints. No offense boss, but you are pretty recognizable. What with the red eyes and all. There aren’t that many people with eye’s that color. ” 

“That’s not a bad idea.” Gyousou smirked. “No offense taken by the way.” he added as an after thought. “But, are you certain you want to involve the rest of your family? If our enemy is bold enough to strike at me directly do you think your family will be safe?” 

“Hay, you've never been to the Touda clans main house. If you had, you’d know it’s built like a fortress. It’s really old, built during the rule of the slaughter king according to family lore. It’s stayed standing despite the, oh I don’t know, like ten or twenty different time some maniac has burned the capital down sense then. The interior is basically a maze, and there are multiple escape tunnels. It was built with the idea of withstanding and repelling assaults.”, Enju said offhandedly with a shrug. 

“And then there’s the fact that this is the Touda clan we’re talking about!” Enju said proudly. “It’s not just our clansmen who serve as house guards who train in martial arts. I’s everyone in the main family and the branch families too. We all undergo martial arts training of one sort or another, practically from the time we can walk. I know its become unfashionable with the great houses theses days to train in martial arts like a bunch of crazy monks but that’s just how we do things, you know.” 

“Besides, Who the Hell is going to look for the king in the midst of a bunch of weirdoes like us? We may have a long-standing contract to supply tokijin weapons to the military but every one knows that the Touda’s have always been pretty indifferent about supporting whatever monarch happens to sit on the throne.” 

That was true, by and large. The Touda clan made tokijin and if anything people tended to by more tokijin when a monarch wasn’t on the throne, owing to yoma attacks being more of a concern at times when the throne was empty. Besides their contracts were with the ministry of summer, not the throne. The clan just needed a monarch to stamp the paperwork to renew these contracts every once in a wile so that they could continue with business as usual. This led to the clan as a whole generally supporting the throne, as most people did, but being pretty indifferent to the individual who sat on it. 

“Don’t worry though,” Enju said reassuringly with a dismissive hand wave. “ My father’s actually been wanting to meet with you and thank you formally.” 

“For what?” Gyousou asked with genuine surprise.

“Basically straitening me out. And there was that time you bailed my unit out when I walked right in to an ambush. You saved my butt, remember?” Enju said with a nostalgic look on his face as he smiled at his former commander. 

“Ah, Yes.” Gyousou said instantly recalling the incident. “But that was decades ago.”

“Doesn’t matter.” Enju said dismissively. “It still happened and father, or rather the head of the Touda clan, would still like to thank you for it formally.” He paused and looked pensive for a moment. “Come to think of it I never got a chance to pay you back for that eater.”

“ I really did not do any thing that extraordinary.” Gyousou said awkwardly, feeling slightly flustered. 

“I don’t know” Enju said with a nonchalant shrug. “I’m alive today because you saved me back then.”

Gyousou cleared his throat and made and attempt to steer the conversation away form the awkward topic of life debts. “So, I take it you have a network of friends and acquaintances in the capital we can contact for information regarding what’s happening in the palace.”

“Yup, what can I say I have a lot of friends.” Enju said said proudly and he held his palms up in mock resignation. “Once we’ve got you safely in the Main house we can focus on gathering intel and finding out who’s behind this whole thing,”he continued, “and make sure the rest of our comrades are safe. And the Taiho.” Enju added as an afterthought. 

“Kouri should be safe enough,” Gyousou said quietly, more to himself than to Enju, “he has shirei to protect him. I can’t say the same for the rest of the ministers.”

“True.” Enju agreed. “Still well have abetter idea what to do once we’ve seen where the dust has settled in the capital.”  
  
Gyousou carefully shifted himself so that he was sitting on the edge of the bed. “You've put a lot of thought in to this, haven't you, Enju.” He smiled dispute himself. “I’m impressed.”, he said warmly. 

“Hay the Touda clan has always done right by Tai. And I still owe you for saving my butt, and introducing me to the love of my life.” Enju said confidently. 

“You mean introducing you to the doctor form the medical corps who stitched you back together?” Gyousou said with a smirk.   
X  
“Yes, her.” Enju said with a laugh. “You know she used to get so mad at me for spending more time with you than I did with her when I was still in the army.”

“Do you think she’ll be mad at you for coming out of retirement?” Gyousou asked jokingly. 

Enju indicated the other founding chair at the table opposite where he sat. The chair was easily within three steps of the cot where Gyousou was siting. 

“Ba! She’s the forgiving type! And besides I’ve known you longer sir! She’ll understand. Though, I think she’s gong to be more angry with those assassins than me.” Enju laughed. 

Gyousou got to his feet and walked toward the indicated chair. “I almost feel sorry for those assassins.” He smirked. 

“Oh”, Enju said as a thought struck him, “and I’ll finally be able to introduce you to my baby girl. It’s about time you two got to meet each other.” 

Gyousou pulled the empty chair back from the table and moved to sit down. “I'd like tha-” 

Suddenly pain erupted in his gut and hip wounds. He gasped and clutched at his stomach as he crumpliled over. Enju’s chair fell over as he lunged to catch Gyousou before he hit the floor.

“Sir! Are you alright!?” Enju was kneeling with his arms wrapped around the larger man’s shoulders. Gyosou’s head was resting against Enju’s broad chest. 

“I’m fine” Gyousou said in an attempt to reassure Enju, but he's doubled over, his face is creased a pain and sweat glistens on his fore head.

“Shit!” Enju hissed, “You’d better lay back down sir.” 

“I think it’s mostly my hip.” Gyousou admitted massaging the wound. “It might be a few days before it’s healed to the point where I'll be able to ride a horse.” 

Enju helped Gyousou in to the chair, allowing him to lean most of his weigh on his shoulders. “We might need to bring a wagon up here to transport you.” Enju said, thinking out loud. 

There was a brief knock at the door before a young man Gyousou didn’t recognize came running in to the room.

“Uncle!” He shouted. 

The man paused suddenly when he saw Gyousou. Apparently he hadn’t expected him to be awake. He was in his late teens, and had an overall anxious look about him. He was taller than Enju, broad shouldered with odd light blue-green hair and golden eyes. The man nervously looked between Enju and Gyousou, uncertain which of them he should bow to and address first. Then he dropped in to a respectful kowtow.

“Sire, I’m pleased to see that you are awake!” He shouted awkwardly. Gyousou noted that he had a prominent Zui accent. 

Enju stood up and took a few angry strides toward the young man. 

“Koyu! What’s the big idea!” Enju scolded. “Bursting in here, and shouting like you don’t have any manners! I know your mother taught you better than that!” 

“I’m sorry sir,” Enju said turning back to Gyousou. “This is Touda Koyu of the Pulao branch family. I apologize for his behavior.” 

“My behavior!”, Koyu snapped, as he abruptly sat up. “What about you! You should be kowtowing too, Uncle!”

Enju reached out to nonchalantly ruffle the younger mans blue-green hair. “As you can tell he gets his smart mouth from my side of the family.” Enju sighed, “I do apologize.” 

“Never mind all that.” Gyousou said dismissively. “Koyu, was it? What did you come in here to tell your uncle?” 

“Um- yes sire!” Koyu said sitting bolt upright on his knees. He faced forward respectfully, “Sire scouts form the army of the right have been sighted in the woods to the south. They are following the old road to the mine. At their current rate of progress we estimate that they’ll be here in a few hours.” 

())()()()()()()()()()()()()())()()()()()()()()  
Learn Chinese

Iron Harvest- 铁收获---Tiě shōuhuò--- 

I considered using the Chinese name for the city of Iron Harvest but my spell checker already hates me and kept auto correcting “Enju” to “Enjoy” , I figured it wasn’t worth the hassle. 

Chen- simplified Chinese: 陈; traditional Chinese: 陳;   
According to Wikipedia “is one of the most common East Asian surnames.”, and that’s all I know. I think Chen might show up again, but I haven't made up my mind about it. 

Enju (炎珠, "Flame sphere") - from what I found, this could be used as a boy’s or Girls name. I just liked the sound of it. 

騰蛇- Touda- (to soar+serpent)

Koyu- 絳攸 - I have no clue what it translates to but I like the sound of it. 

Pulao- 蒲牢- the literal translation is weird, but not important. The Pulao is a mythological creature that’s sort of a dragon like reptilian creature that’s used to decorate the tops of bells. Supposedly its one of the “Nine sons of the Dragon” and its described as “a dragon who likes to cry/shout” It seemed appropriate. 

(Yuan- the yuan dynasty was established by Kublai Kahn the grand son of Genghis Khan. Also at one point Kublai sent a whole fleet of ships to invade Japan. It didn’t go very well for them. To make a long story short most of the ships got caught in a kamikaze and never returned home to China, and if your thinking that I’m using this as a excuse to put Mongoles in this story you’d be correct. 

Ainu- the indigenous people of northern Japan. From what I understand they are very good at surviving in cold climates and I figured they would be a natural fit for Tai. I figure that these people have probably been swept in to the northern parts of the twelve kingdoms for a long time. Also, I started writing this in 2016, long before Golden Kamuy was dubbed in to English. On a side note, I recommend watching Golden Kamuy, it’s a good show. I haven't read the manga though. 

On a separate note, this chapter was way long so I had to break it up in to tow parts like I did with chapter 3. Chapter 5 is coming real soon, sorry again for all the sitting and talking. The fight scene is coming up, promise!   
Please leave feedback! I’m not sure if I have many readers yet but I’d like to know what you think of my writing, characters, dialog, etc. And more importantly I’d like to know if there are areas I need to improve it.   
Also, if you want to get some item about the next chapter, plop the chapter in to google. (It’s a reference to a character I’m going to introduce)   
Next chapter 5 Daji.


	6. Daji

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enju says goodby to Gyousou and we meet Asen's pet psychopath.

  
Chapter 5 Daji

“What!” Enju shouted. “How did they find us!” 

“I don’t know!” Koyu shouted back. “There’s no way they could have followed us through that storm, and all of our men have been careful to stay out of sight.” 

“Stop!” Gyousou boomed in the voice he used to command thousands on the battle field. “You both need to calm down right now!”

Both Enju and Koyu went silent.

“How they found us isn’t important right now!” Gyousou turned his blazing eyes on Koyu. “How many soldiers were sighted?” 

“Lian, she’s uncles chief body guard, scouted further down the mountain and estimated that there was a full company of land cavalry, roughly one or two hundred soldiers.” Koyu reported. 

“Shit,” Enju ground threw clenched teeth.

Gyousou turned to him. “Enju, how many men do you have here with you?” 

“Nine, counting myself, Koyu, and Lieutenant Chen.” Enju sighed. 

Gyosou came to a decision. He folded his arms and turned his attention back to the younger man. “Koyu, I need you to get my armor.”

Koyu looked confused for a moment. 

“You herd his majesty! Go get his armor!” Enjuu said shoeing him toward the door. 

“Um- yes sire!” Koyu quickly ran out the door. 

Gyousou sighed once Koyu left. He didn’t want the excitable young man to hear what he had to say to Enju.  
  
“Is there a source of fresh water in this cave?” He asked half heartedly. 

Enju shook his head. “No sir, this is a gem mine, the water in these caves is so full of minerals that it’s toxic. We only have three barrels of water I brought up here earlier.” 

“I thought so.” Gyosuo sighed. 

He’d already suspected as much. When Koyu said there were troops headed toward them Gyousou had considered waiting out a siege briefly. However he’d discarded the idea quickly. Without fresh water a siege would be doomed within a week, if not days.   
  
“We only have enough food for a few weeks at most. Drawing this out in a seige isn’t going to get us anywhere.” Enju said abruptly. 

Enju was still standing by the door. His face was scrunched up in thought. His boot tapping against the stone floor, arms crossed in frunt of him as if he was trying to hold in his nervous energy. 

Gyosou wasn’t surprised that Enju was thinking along the same lines he was. Enju had always been good at following his train of thought and anticipating what his next move would be. It had allowed him to work well behind enemy lines with out direction from his superiors. This had made him a valuable officer and field scout. Indeed Enju’s keen mind had been the reason Gyousou had mentored him when he was younger. He knew that Enju would reach the same conclusion he had. 

“Even if we use the tunnels to make them come at us in small groups there are just too few of us to make that work.” Enju sighed, “We’ll have to make a run for it through the caves. They probably won’t think to immediately go looking for us on the other side of the mountain.”

Gyousou sighed wearily. “You said earlier that there are parts of these caves that are tight and physically demanding to get through. Is that correct?” 

“Yeah there’s a stretch where you have to crawl along single file. And then theres that one bit were you have to belly crawl threw a really narrow crevice.” 

Gyousou groaned involuntarily and found that he was gripping at his still aching gut wound. Enju noticed and took a few steps toward his former commander with a look of concern on his face. 

“Sir?” He asked tentatively. 

Gyousou looked up, and shook his head dismissively before asking, “How long will the journey through the caves take?”

“I did it in a day with a couple of surveyors. It will take a bit longer sense we’ll have a larger group with us this time.” Enju said hesitantly. “What’s your point?”

Gyousou straitened his shoulders and took a deep breath as he drew himself up with all the dignity he could manage. He knew what he was going to say would hurt Enju.

“Enju, you have to take your men and flee without me.” He said calmly. 

“Like Hell!” Enju yelled as he crossed the rest of the distance between them. “Did you get stupid after you sat on that big fancy chair?! There’s no way I’m turning tail and leaving you here alone!” Flames reflected in his dark cobalt eyes, as his red hair was turned to fire in the lamp light. Enju stood over him, like a flaming tidal wave poised to crash against a mountain, rage and confusion radiating off of him. 

Gyosou sat motionless ignoring the pain of his wounds, regarding Enju cooly. H’d expected this reaction. Gyousou knew that Enju had always been an impulsive and emotional man, as well as fiercely loyal. Enju didn’t abandon people, and what Gyousou just ordered Enju to do went entirely against his nature. 

Gyousou’s red eyes held Enju’s dark cobalt eyes. Enju looked away first and stepped back. He took a few calming breaths as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other, clearly embarrassed by his outburst. The flaming tidal wave subsided, and the mountain stood. Enju’s anger was just as quick to dissipate as it was to rise. 

For all his impulsiveness, Enju was very clever and had probably already worked through the logic behind Gyousou’s orders, but his heart refused to accept the necessity of leaving him behind. In order to save his all to loyal friend, Gyousou had to convince Enju of the reality of the situation. 

Similar to extinguishing a firestorm with a teapot’s volume of water, thought Gyousou.

Gyousou rested his elbows on the armrests of the simple folding chair and steepled his fingers. He grimaced a bit as he leaned back and the entry wound on his back made contact with the chair. Immortals were far more resilient than normal humans but they didn’t heal instantaneously. Pain however, was felt just acutely as mortals. He’d never been impaled before, and had no idea how long it would take for this injury to fully heal.

He took a deep breath, and fixed his gaze on the far wall. “In my injured state I doubt I’ll be able to make the journey.” Gyousou said quietly. “I could barely walk three steps just now, I will not be able to keep up with you and your clansmen in the caves. My injuries will only slow you down and I doubt that you would be able to carry me on a stretcher for most of the way.”

Gyousou looked up at Enju.

Enju opened his mouth to argue. Then he shut it and quickly looked away, unable to meet Gyousou’s eyes. That was all the confirmation Gyousou needed. With this opening, he plowed ahead.

“I doubt that we will be able to bring enough provisions in to the caves for a prolonged journey and in the state I'm in, the journey could well stretch to multiple days, possibly a weak, I’m not sure.” He reached down to rest his hand on his stab wound again. The wound was no longer bleeding but there was a lot of internal damage that needed time to heal. Time they didn’t have.

“But-”

Gyousou held up a hand to stop Enju. 

“There’s no way to take the horses with us. We’d be on foot once we reached the other side of the mountain. I’d only slow you down further at that point and put the rest of you at risk. Further more, our enemy is going to search this mine. If they find no one here they will immediately call for reinforcements. They’d have formed a cordon around the entire mountain by the time we reached the other side.” 

He reached down to the puncture on his left hip. Like the stab would on his gut, it hadn’t been made with a tokijin but it was far from healed and greatly hindered his ability to walk. 

“Listen to me Enju. I don’t think their aim was to kill me, but they would certainly kill anyone they found with me.”

“What?”, said Enjoy as he moved closer. 

Gyousou paused as he considered the best way to explain his suspicions to Enju. Enju cocked his head slightly, then moved the other chair around from the other side of the table. He set it down facing Gyousou and sat down to wait patiently, facing his general. 

After a moment Gyousou continued. “You said that my would-be-assassin attacked me with a sword that was not a tokijin blade. Yet he was a Major, and would have been issued such a weapon.”

“Chen didn’t mention that.”

“Chen didn’t get close enough to see the bear insignia on his pauldrons and helmet that denoted his rank. Trust me he was a major. It’s still standard practice of any office above a lieutenant to be issued a tokijin. So, I don’t think the attack was meant to kill me.”

“Alright,” Enju said, “ at the risk of asking a stupid question, why were’t your assassins trying to kill you.” 

“I’ve suspected that Lord General Asen was planning something like this for some time.” 

“Asen? You mean general of the imperial army of the Right Jou Asen!?” Enju said, face contorting in an expression of disgust and surprise as he sat up. “That guy you, yourself said was like a brother to you?”, Enju asked incredulously. “That’s the guy you thinks behind this coup?”   
  
“Listen; a wile ago when it was clear the the Vain King had lost the will of heaven and wouldn’t be on the throne much longer. Asen came to me and asked me to indulge him in a thought experiment. General Asen out lined a scenario in which a usurper could rule indefinitely. Basically the scenario calls for both the king and Taiho to be incapacitated but alive effectively leaving the throne empty. If both are still alive but unable to act, a usurper can rule indefinitely. At the time he brushed the matter off as a mere intellectual exercise.”

“Are you serious!?” Enju was clearly unsettled. “That’s sick!”

Gyousou leaned forward resting his chin on his steepled fingers as he stared at a point in the far distance.“I think Asen is trying to create that scenario and take the throne for himself. If Asen kills me another monarch will be selected within a year or two at the most. If Asen kills the Taiho it will be eight years at the least before a new kirin is mature enough to pick a new monarch. ”

Gyousou shifted his gaze back to Enju, “He isn’t interested in killing me,” Gyousou said coldly,“I'm less of a nuscence alive than dead.”

Gyousou closed his eyes and sighed. “Perhaps it was something he was planning to do once a new monarch was selected, even back then. Or maybe it’s because I was the one selected to be the next king. I’ve always suspected that he saw me as a rival. It’s possible that my ascension to the throne pushed him over the edge.” 

“Wait!” Enju said, interrupting Gyousou’s train of thought. “Doesn’t that mean that Taiki, er- I mean the Seiho is his next target?” Enju was still clearly shocked by what he was hearing but Gyousou was glad to see that he was working at the problem set in front of them. 

Gyousou nodded. “Yes, it does. For the time being I’m going to have to trust that Kouri’s shirei- particularly that toutetsu he managed to tame.” He shuttered inwardly remembering his first encounter with the enormous dark amorphous mass that had nearly killed him and the young Kirin in that cave beneath the Yellow Sea. He also involuntarily winced as the stab wound throbbed from the pressure change. He couldn’t think of any way for Asen to neutralize a beast like that in order to attack Taiki. “I’ll have to trust that will be enough to protect him for the time being.” 

“Yeah, but you won’t be able to do anything for the Saiho if your a prisoner.”

“The army of the right doesn’t know that you are with me.” Gyousou said. “ And they have no way of knowing that you’ve written the rest of the Touda family about the assassination attempt. If you leave me behind and escape I’ll know I have allies that are still free to act.”  
  
“So you let yourself get captured, and then you rely on me to bust you out?”Enju coked his head to the side with a look of uncertainty on his face.   
  
“Not just you.” Gyousou said seriously. “I’m sure Asen hasn’t swayed all our old comrades to his side, and I’ll need you to contact lady general Risie of the Zui provincial army. I have complete faith in her.”

Risei, he’d sat in the palace garden with her a few nights earlier. He hadn’t told her of his suspicions about Asen then but he’d asked her to stay close to Taiki. He should have told her everything then and there. 

Originally he’d brought her onboard to serve in his new government as the general of the Zui provincial army, serving as Taiki’s direct subordinate. The young kirin had gravitated toward her during their time on Mount Hou, and her recored as the General of the Jou provincial army had spoken for itself. However, as he’d gotten to spend more time with her the two of them he'd become aware of a mutual attraction between them.

A sovereign was not permitted to marry once they assumed the throne, it was a very different matter if they were already married, but once they were enthroned that door was forever shut, and Risei was not the sort of woman to cast aside her career as a soldier and every thing she’d worked for so that she could enter the royal harem as a courtesan. He couldn’t bring himself to ask her to do such a thing for him, nor could he afford to deprive Taiki of such a competent retainer. 

Ah, the selfless duty of an emperor, he thought.

He envied Enju. He didn’t know how free a man he was right now.

“Besides you have a family to think about.” Gyousou pressed, “You’r wife and child are waiting for you in the capital.”  
  
“Yeah well you have a whole country to think about and that cute little black haired kid waiting for you back home!” Enju said sardonically.   
  
“Enju I need you to do this.” Gyousou said almost pleadingly. “If you stay you and your men die for nothing. If I flee with you then our element of surprise is lost. Further, there’s no other commander I trusted more to lead operations behind enemy lines.”  
  
“Are you ordering me to abandon you sir?”Enju asked darkly, although they both already knew the answer.  
  
“Yes. I’m ordering you as your king and I’m asking you as a friend. Please do this for me!”  
  
Enjoy sighed defeatedly. “You're a bastard you know that! But fine, I won’t go against my king!”

Enju stood up and gracefully flowed in to a kowtow before is friend and sovereign. “I Touda Enju, swear to contact this Lady Geraeral Risai, protect the Seiho and mobilize the Touda clan for the coming war. I swear it on the Honor of the Touda clan and on my honor as the former Major of the imperial army of the left and commander of the first Aerial Reconnaissance battalion.”

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()  
Later

Upon close examination Gyousou and Enju had found a paper o-fuda talisman sewn in to the lining of Gyousou’s shirt. Neither of them were particularly familiar with paper talismans but it was easy to guess that this had been how the army of the right had tracked Gyousou down. 

Gyousou had changed back in to his original clothing and armor. There was no point destroying the talisman now. The enemy would be here shortly. 

Gyousou stood in the gloom of one of the lower chambers of the mine watching the members of the Touda clan prepare for their subterranean journey. He leaned heavily agains the spear Lieutenant Chen had given him. The cavalry man had said that the weapon was too ungainly to take through the tunnels and had asked him to put it to good use. Gyousou intended to honor the younger man’s request. 

Some distance from where he stood, Enju and his clansmen were organizing their supplies and distributing them evenly among themselves. Gyousou noticed that they kept sneaking glances at him when they thought he wasn’t looking. Gyousou had announced the plan to them some time ago. It seemed that some of them were still shocked by the news that they would be leaving their king behind, the king that each of them had been willing to risk their lives to help. Perhaps some of them even felt insulted that he wasn’t willing to accept their sacrifice on his behalf. He’d certainly feel that way if he’d been in their place. 

Their hushed voices echoed off the walls of the large chamber , mixing with the sounds of running water form lower in the mine. Enju, and a few others had mining helmets with small lanterns on the front. Others hold small handheld lanterns that barely illuminate the interior of the chamber around them. Gyousou understood that Enju would be at the front of the group, as he was one of the few who’d made this journey before. 

Gyousou looked up at the crevice in the wall that Enju and his people were going to escape through. The crevice was a narrow gap in the ceiling twenty feet off the ground. You could only see it form a certain angle and in the dim lighting it was difficult to tell that it was an opening instead of a darker area of shadows. It was barely noticeable, no one would suspect it lead to another chamber behind the wall.

Koyu held a lantern aloft as he came running up to Enju. “Uncle I’ve just finished burning everything we couldn't take with us. The saddles, extra supplies, Lieutenant Chen’s uniform, everything.” 

“Did you burn the ashes, and make sure the metal bits were melted beyond recognition?” Enju asked urgently.

Koyu rolled his eyes. “Of course uncle. There’s nothing left.” 

“Good, grab a pack and go wait with the other men.” Enju gestured toward the group with a tilt of his head. 

“Yes, uncle.” Koyu said. The young man lingered for a moment longer to look at Gyousou as if etching an image of him in to his memory. Koyu bowed to him before moving to join his clansmen.

Enju moved up beside Gyousou as he watched the young man go. “I was training him to take my place as the overseer of the Bun Province operations once I became head of the family,” he said wistfully, “now that there’s another war coming...” Enju let the sentence hang in the air.

He turned to Gyousou. “Are you sure I can’t talk you out of this sir, I mean your majesty?” Enju asked.

Gyousou shifted his weight slightly trying to ignore the pain in his hip as he leaned on the spear. He eyed the crevice.   
  
Gyousou sighed, and shook his head. “No, this is our best option. As it is they’ll know someone was helping me but they won’t know who.” 

Gyousou smiled dispiet himself and held out his arm to Enju. “I know you’ll come though for me Enju, just as you always have.”

Enju returned his smile and grabed his offered arm in a warriors arm clasp.   
  
“You better not die on me! I don’t want to be the man who ran wile the best king we’ve ever had went and got himself killed! I’d die of shame you asshole!”

Gyousou smiled back. “I will not die!” Then he paused for a moment and cocked his head to one side. “Also, did you just praise me and call me an asshole at the same time?”

Enju pulled him close in a tight embrace, mindful of his injuries.   
  
“Dam right I did you royal asshole!”  
  
Gyousou awkwardly returned the embrace. He’d forgotten Enju’s tendency to hug without warning.   
  
“If you’r right about what Asen’s up to it might be a wile before I see you again.” Enju hugged him tighter. “I’ll find you sir so whatever you do stay alive so I can pay you back.” 

“I already told you I have no intention of dying, my old friend.” Gyousou soothed. 

Enju pulled away form him. “There’s something else I need to tell you, sir.”

“That belt you were wearing, the one the king of Han gave you.”

“Yes, What about it?”

“Before you woke up I put it in the last shipment of water jewels out of this mine. It’s going straight to Han. Those dandies in Han may only be good at working soft stuff, like gold and silver, but take it from some one who makes a living pounding metal, the smiths over there recognize their own work. They’ll see the bloodstains on your severed belt and know what’s happened here. The word will get out even if the information is suppressed in Tai.”

Gyousou was genuinely impressed. “That was very clever of you. Whatever else happens I’m proud of the man you’ve become.” 

Gyousou looked back over Enju’s shoulder at his waiting clansmen. “ Enju, I’s time. You need to go lead your people.”

Enju sighed. “I know.” 

Gyousou clasped Enju’s shoulder. 

“Be well my friend.” Gyousou said.

“Same to you sir.” Enjoy replied as he bowed before walking back to his clansmen. 

Gyousou watched as Enju climbed the rock wall and disappeared in to the crevice. The rest of the expedition began to file in after him. 

Gyousou turned away and began the trek back to the surface. With his back to Enju he clenched his hand against the burning pain in his gut. The wound isn't bleeding, but the mussels and tissue beneath haven't mended yet and the pain was only going to get worse. 

I just have to hold out a little longer. He thought.  
  
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()   
Later

The early spring sun shown down cheerfully from a clear blue sky as Gyousou leaned against the rough stone of the cave entrance. Chen’s spear leaned against the wall beside him. His eyes were closed as he listened to the pounding hooves of the approaching enemy cavalry. Presently the first riders broke through the tree line. 

For a moment Gyousou caught a glimpse of a luopan or geomantic compass, before the lead rider hurriedly stuffed in in to a pouch on his belt. Guosou nodded to himself. The o-fuda had been the means they’d use to track him. None of Enju’s people had betrayed him. 

A fifty man company followed and pulled their mounts in to an arch formation around the cave entrance. Their white scale mail armor gleamed in the sunlight as their horses trample the snow. 

Gyousou wondered is Lian’s estimate had been off. She’d said the enemy force had numbered between one to two hundred. Then again, There’s no way Enju’s people could have taken on this many fully armored and equipped soldiers and survived, let alone avoided capture. It really didn’t matter either way. 

There was an eerie silence as the companies commanding officer rode forward on her vicious wolf-tiger Kiju. Physically she looked to be in her late twenties or early thirties. She had a narrow heart shaped face with close set eyes the color of molten copper and full lips. Her flawless skin was a reddish umber color. Her dark magenta hair spilled over her shoulder in a long braid that fell to her waist. Her uniform and white armor did little to conceal her slender feminine figure. Her chin was held up aristocratically as she looked down upon all around her. Her molten copper eyes regarded him disdainfully as if he was a dead animal her Kiju brought her as a gift. 

“Colonel Su Daji of the army of the right’s intelligence division, I presume?” Gyousou called out. 

“Why, yes.” she replied. “Only its Brigadier General now, your majesty.” she said offhandedly with a sneer. The light caught on the tiger insignia on her pauldrons as she shifted her shoulders with denoted her new rank. 

Gyousou let out a long slow breath. 

He had been expecting Asen to send someone like Su Daji after him. She was one of his most loyal subordinates. Her record was full of disciplinary citations for “conduct unbecoming of an officer”. In her case that was code for using unsanctioned torture on prisoners in her custody. This had happened many times, and she’d defended herself by saying that she’d used torture to secure valuable information that had saved the lives of her comrades and superiors. Though, according to rumors she reveled in administering said torture and enjoyed every moment of it. Asen had always defended her and supported her actions in his army’s intelligence division. Before all of this Gyousou had believed that Asen had been trying to curry favor with the Su clan. That may still be the case, but essentially Asen had spent decades cultivating Daji’s loyalty by shielding her form the consequences of her own actions. 

It makes sense that he’s send her to capture me. If anything this makes me more certain that I didn’t want Enju to be here for this.  
  
“We have orders to take you alive.” Daji said conversationally. “Resist and I can’t guarantee that you’ll be able to keep your arms and legs attached.” 

There was a ripple of nevus laughter form her underlings.

Daji smiled predatorily at him.

Gyousou said nothing in reply. Every moment Daji and her men spent dealing with him was a moment they weren’t searching the caves for Enju and the Toudas. 

Daji leaned forward in her saddle. “By the way, it seems your allies ran off and abandoned you.” She said in a childish pouty voice. She pointed to the trail of hoof prints left by the horses Enju released about an hour earlier. “It’s very odd how they decided to up and leave like that.” A wicked smile spread across her face. “Let me guess. You sent them away so they wouldn’t get hurt.” She leaned back in her saddle and folded her arms. “Oh, don’t worry I’ve already sent half my men to hunt them down.” 

Her comment and tone of voice were calculated to provoke fear and anger in him. Instead, Gyousou wanted to laugh knowing that she’d sent half her men off to chase a bunch of riderless horses and one sansui. However, this still left him with fifty soldiers to fight. Weather he was fighting fifty or one hundred he knew this wasn’t a fight he could win. His only objective here was to buy Enju time, he could do that much at least. 

He resolutely picked up the spear and stood with the rock wall at his back.

“Why are you doing this?” He asked flatly. 

“Because Tai doesn’t need some justice obsessed commoner form the back country of Ai province purging ministers left and right for going about business as usual. We need a more practiced hand who understands the system, and is of suitably nobel birth to rule this kingdom properly.” 

“Someone like Jou Asen?” He asked darkly. 

Daji was of the Su clan, like the Touda they were an old and proud lineage. She’d grown up steeped in privilege and entitlement. Her families wealth fueled by Tai’s lucrative gem trade. Asen was similarly of aristocratic birth being form the Jou clan. Gyousou, on the other hand had been born to a family of farmers in the river lands of Ai province. Classism had always been a prevalent problem in Tai. It wasn’t surprising to him that Asen would coerce people to his side using the fact that Gyousou was of common birth against him. 

“Nothing to say?” Daji asked cocking her head to one side.

He looked up at the clear blue sky. It was still early, but spring was coming. He thought of how he and Kouri had been admiring plumb blossoms in the palace garden only a few weeks ago. Kouri would worry when he didn’t return. He wished he could be there to comfort the young Kirin in the dark days to come, but that wasn’t possible. 

Enju had to escape. He had to reach Kouri and Risei before Asen could make his next move.   
  
“No,” he said returning his attention to Daji. “I don’t think a pack of traitors dogs is worth speaking to.” He said as he hefted the spear Chen had given him. It was a standard military issue spear, nothing about it would be traceable back to the young cavalry lieutenant. 

“Oh, very well.” Daji said with an elegant shrug. 

She straitened in her saddle. “Squad one dismount! clubs and shields only.” her voice projected nothing but brutal authority, as she commanded her troops.

A five man squad dismounted holding clubs and rectangular four foot tall tower shields. They moved in to try encircling him. He maneuvered to keep the rock face of the cave at his back to avoid being surrounded. His injured hip and gut wound slowed him down, but by using the spear’s longer reach he was able to strike his attackers at a distance, with out getting close enough to get within the reach their clubs. 

He stabbed two men around their shields in the shoulder and shin. He stabbed a third man in the face when he got carless and peaked over his shield. He reflected that theses are cavalry men, they weren’t used to using tower shields in infantry formations like this and they were probably newly recruited cannon fodder.  
  
Another man falls under Gyousou’s spear. When that man fell Gyousou quickly stooped to pick up his shield. He wasn’t able to stand fast enough to a void a hard strike to his back form one of the remaining club wielders. His scale mail was able to absorb some of the impact but it still hurt and left him gasping. The second remaining club wielder rushed in and delivered a blow to right his shoulder. Gyousou swiftly turned on his heel and hacked off the arm of the man who struck his shoulder before he could withdraw behind his shield. The man screamed and fell over, grasping at a bloody stump. 

“Squad two and three dismount!” Daji commanded dispassionately.

The lone survivor of squad one dragged his dismembered comrade away as ten more men dismounted. 

One five man squad was armed with heavy metal staffs. The other bore tower shields and clubs like squad one had. The shield bearers stood at a distance, allowing the staff wielders more room to maneuver with their larger pole arms. He doges their attacks staying in constant motion. 

A blow from one staff landed on his shield. The impact was resounding and nearly forced him to his knees. He was forced to bring up both arms to support the shield. He let out a war cry as he shoved his attacker back but as he did so another blow landed on his injured shoulder. There was a crunching noise and his right pauldron broke off, black metal scales scattering to the ground. 

Another blow struck the back of his knee. His leg crumpled under the impact, but he forced himself back on to his feet despite the pain. As he rose he thrust his spear in to the breast plate of the staff wielder standing over him. He pulled the weapon free and swung it at another staff wielder. He was vaguely aware of blood splattering on his face. 

Distantly he heard Daji call for squad four to dismount. 

He leaned against the shield, to catch his breath only to realize that he had strayed too far from the cave and on longer had the rock wall at his back. More men with shields and clubs surrounded him. 

His thoughts strayed to Enju and the other Toudas crawling through the bowels of the mountain. Enju had to reach the capital, he had to keep Kouri and Risai safe.  
.   
One of the heavy metal staffs delivered a savage blow to the side of his head. His helmet was knocked off by the impact. He sensed more than saw the next strike coming as he raised his shield. The staff strike comes immediately and connects with enough force to rattle the arm holding the shield. He stabbed at his attacker and felt his spear connect with flesh. He lowered the shield in time to see another soldier in withe armor fall before him. 

He turned to attack another enemy who came charging at him. His spear splintered against the soldier’s shield as the man fell backward from the force of Gyousou’s attack. Gyousou whirled around to stab the jagged shaft of the broken spear in to the unarmored neck of a staff wielder. He almost tripped over the arm of another fallen soldier. He carefully righted himself, realizing that the ground was slick with blood. 

A cloud moved over the sun. Gyousou drew his sword with his right hand, raising the shield with his left. He stood panting in a ring of corpses. 

He sagged for a second, fatigue and pain threatening to overwhelm him. He was beginning to have trouble tracking all the waving weapons of his enemies. It was like trying to attack a multi headed beast. In addition the persistent stabbing of his gut wound was making it hard to focus on anything else. He was pretty suer that the wound on his left hip had reopened as well. Desperation and the force of his will were the only things keeping him on his feet at this point. 

He looked over at Daji. He only remembered her calling for four squads to fight him but somehow her remaining men seem fewer than they should. It looks like she only has some ten men still mounted behind her. Several men were still circling him but they had pulled back widening the shield wall around him. 

The sun had moved toward the west. 

How long have I been fighting?   
  
Daji was grinning down at him from her saddle. It was a wide vulpine smile. She was clearly enjoying watching him suffer. 

Gyousou knew that he was at his limit. His thoughts went to Kouri. He didn’t know what Asen intended to do to the child. The young Kirin would be in great danger and he wouldn’t be there to protect him. 

Was this truly the best option? Risei, please..... Protect Kouri for me. 

He thought of Risai’s dark auburn hair shining in the sunlight, her laughing dark blue green eyes. She would be waiting with Kouri in the capital for him. Enju had to reach them and warn them of Asen’s betrayal.

“Well if you want something done right,” Daji said languidly, snapping him back to the here and now, “I suppose I'll just have to take him down myself” With that she dismounted. 

Do it yourself ? He thought wryly Don’t make me laugh! You’ve sent roughly forty soldiers against me to wear me down before hand.

“All remaining Squads form a ring!” Daji shouted. “Shields in front, pole arms form up behind.”

The mounted soldiers dismounted and formed up with the others to form a ring around him. They carelessly walked over the bodies of their comrades. Spears, and blunt metal staves protruded from the shield wall around him, as if daring him to come within striking range. 

The shields parted for a moment to admit Daji in to the ring. Her hips swayed as she sauntered on to the blood soaked battle field. The long white scale mail skirt of her cavalry armor shifted around her legs making a soft clinking sound. 

She unholstered the weapon on her hip, a custom made whip called “Flayer”. It was made of braided leather studded with backward curving steel thorns all of which carried a toki enchantment. It was designed to rake flesh or catch an opponent by wrapping around their limbs when it was pulled back after the initial whip strike. 

She favored him with her predatory smile, before cracking her hip at him. 

He blocked her first strike with his shield. However the whip was long enough to reach over his shield and slash at his face. He flinched as the whip cut open a long gash on his forehead. He knocked the whip aside with his sword. The flayer came back around suddenly wrapping around the unarmored flesh of his right arm between his pauldron and gantlet. She pulled hard. The thorns of her whip dug through the thick fabric of his shirt and sliced into the meat of his elbow as she yanked the whip back. He staggered from the searing pain.

Suddenly one of the soldiers behind him surged forward. He couldn’t move fast enough to get the shield up in time. Even as Gyousou’s sword went through his neck, the man delivered bone crushing blow to his unprotected right shoulder. Something had defiantly broken under the impact. Daji and her men were making a concerted effort to incapacitate his sword arm. 

Daji cracked the flayer, whipping it around for another attack. He crouched behind the shield to try to protect his right side. His elbow and shoulder were so badly damaged. He transferred the sword to his left hand and gripped the shield’s straps with his right. He hadn’t noticed he was panting until now as he allowed himself a moment to catch his breath. 

He herd Daji cracked the flayer again and suddenly the tip came slashing around the edges of the shield at him from his left. The metal thorns grazed the skin above his left color bone between his neck and his left pauldron. His shirt collar was shredded, and blood poured form the would but it didn’t seem serious. However, all of his other woulds were making themselves felt. His gut, back, hip, right shoulder, and elbow were all bleeding and ablaze with pain. Even the shallow cut on his fore he'd was proving a hindrance. Blood was running down into his eyes from the cut on his forehead. He blinked rapidly to clear his vision. He couldn’t afford to let go of either his shield or sword to wipe it way properly. 

Daji smiled down at him evilly.   
  
A club connected with his head. This time he had no helmet to take the brunt of the blow. Gyuosou lunged to his feet and slashed at the blurry silhouette of his attacker. He felt his sword connect with flesh, but at this point his senses were so dulled he didn’t know if he’d landed a fatal blow or not. Before he could react Daji struck with her flayer again.

The flayer lashed around his ankle. There was a sharp tug ad he fell forward. He dropped the shield but caught himself with his hands. He staggered in an attempt to stand but only sucseeded in falling his knees. He glared up at Daji’s blurred form. 

He herd Daji crack the flayer again and knew it was coming around for another attack. He was able to roll away from her strike but a second attack came right on the heels of the first, and he wasn’t able to move fast enough to avoid it. The flayer wrapped around his left shoulder cutting through the straps that held on his other pauldron and slicing the muscle of his shoulder and skin beneath his left armpit as she savagely pulled the whip back. He remembers screaming as blood ran down his chest in streams. 

The flayer cracked again and this time connected with his left forearm. His left gantlet was torn off, the thorns slicing through the leather straps that held it to his arm. Another crack sounded just before the flayer circled around the flesh of his bare left arm. He remembered letting go of his sword as his entire arm erupted in pain.   
  
“Alright men” Daji called. “Take him.”  
  
He was rushed by a group of club wielding men. He remembered trying to fight but it wan’t enough. He fell under an onslaught of blows from fists and clubs.

“Hold him down!” Daji commanded. He remembered being gripped by many hands, so cold like claws of steel. He remembered having his forehead pressed to the ground in before Daji with his bare back exposed to her. 

Beyond that all he could remember was hearing the cracking of Daji’s flayer and his own screams echo off the mountains. 

()()()())()()()()()()()()()()()  
The present  
  
Gyousou woke up. At first he couldn’t remember were he was, then he heard the sleeping woman, Chunghua stir beside him, and felt her dog, Fang, snuggle againts his other side. He sighed in relief. 

Enju were you able to do what you promised? He wondered. 

Chunghua hadn’t said anything about the Touda clan when she told him about everything that had happened sense the coup. So what happened to them? Had he underestimated his enemy again. Had Enju and his men been captured once they reached the other side of the mountain? Or had something else happened? 

Next chapter- Progress

()())()()()()()))()())  
I hope everyone enjoyed the fight scene. I put a lot of effort in to it as it’s the first real fight scene in this story. In my original version of this chapter I was planning to basically fade to black as the fighting started, like the ending of “Buch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”. But then I thought, “Na, I’ll pull out all the stops and introduce my big recurring villainess instead.” Anyway please leave a comment and tell me what you thought. 

Learn Chinese.   
I’m borrowing Su Daj’s name (and SOME elements of her backstory) form an old Chinese myth. 

Da(妲) Ji(己) Su(蘇)   
Daji (Chinese: 妲己; pinyin: Dájǐ; Wade–Giles: Ta-chi) was the favorite consort of King Zhou of Shang, the last king of the Shang dynasty in ancient China. She is portrayed as a malevolent fox spirit in legends as well as novels. Her identification as a fox spirit seems to have originated from at least the Tang dynasty. These accounts have been popularized in works such as the Wu Wang Fa Zhou Pinghua (武王伐紂平話), the Fengshen Yanyi, and the Lieguo Zhi. She is considered a classic example of how a beautiful woman can cause the downfall of a dynasty in Chinese culture.   
In Feng Shen Yan Yi, she was a daughter of Su Hu (蘇護); who was possessed by a thousand-year-old vixen spirit before becoming a concubine of King Zhou.

  
Oh fun fact about Chinese artwork in ancient china, the five fingered dragon was a symbol of the emperor, dragons who had four of three fingers were used on art objects for lesser nobles or other people who weren’t the emperor.   
“Historically, the Chinese dragon was associated with the Emperor of China and used a symbol to represent imperial power. During the Tang dynasty, Emperors wore robes with dragon motif as an imperial symbol, and high officials might also be presented with dragon robes.[3] In the Yuan dynasty, the two-horned five-clawed dragon was designated for use by the Son of Heaven or Emperor only, while the four-clawed dragon was used by the princes and nobles.[4] Similarly during the Ming and Qing dynasty, the five-clawed dragon was strictly reserved for use by the Emperor only.”  
O-fuda (御札 or お札, o-fuda) is a type of household amulet or talisman, issued by a Shinto shrine, hung in the house for protection, a gofu (護符). It may also be called shinpu (神符). It is made by inscribing the name of a kami (god) and the name of the Shinto shrine or of a representative of the kami on a strip of paper, wood, cloth, or metal. 

These paper tags, also known as "ofuda", are used in Shinto and Onmyōdō for purification and exorcisms or as wards. They are sometimes used with Shide, and most commonly at Shinto Shrines or by Miko.   
Taoists also use a version of the tags called Fu. In Buddhism and Hinduism they are called Sutras. In Korean shamanism they are known as Pujok.   
The western equivalent would be a conspicuously-placed rosary or crucifix, although it was common practice in the Middle Ages to use thin parchment prayer scrolls and wax seals in a similar fashion.   
In Anime and Manga they can do anything, even explode. If in the form of a card, a Death Dealer may use these.   
Compare with Paper Master, a form of Functional Magic that uses paper. 

  
The luopan or geomantic compass is a Chinese magnetic compass, also known as a Feng Shui compass. It is used by a Feng Shui practitioner to determine the precise direction of a structure or other item. Since the invention of the compass for use in Feng Shui, traditional feng shui has required its use.

  
Also, and this is me getting super nerdy here. I have no idea the military ranking system in the twelve kingdoms works or what ranks engender a listing in the registry of immortals. I know the Fuyumi Ono roughly based the civilization of the twelve kingdoms on the Tang and Song dynasties of ancient China, but Unlike Ono sensei I don’t have a lot of sources about this stuff that are available in my native language (that being English) to draw from.   
So, I’m kind of doing my own thing, and drawing up a ranking system based on the American army ranking system. And sense I love the overall midevel aesthetic of the twelve kingdoms I’m going to Take the Animals used in Mandarin rank badges, also called mandarin squares to serve as rank insignia. Here’s a link to an article about mandarin squares on wikipedia if anyone is interested.   
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_square

  
So here’s what I’ve come up with. Also the mandarins had all of nine separate ranks in their system, and the American army has, like a lot more than that so..... I’ve kind of ended up with a mish mosh. I’m only going in to detail with the officer core. So here’s the system I’ve come up with. 

  
second lieutenant- Insignia - White Horse

  
First lieutenant- Insignia-Black Horse

  
Captain-Insignia-Bull 

  
Major- Insignia-Bear 

  
Lieutenant Colonel- Insignia-White Panther--- lowest military rank that grants a listing on the registry of immortals. 

  
Colonel- Insignia-Black Panther 

  
Brigader general- Insignia-Tiger

  
Major general- Insignia- Silver leopard

  
lieutenant General-Insignia-Golden leopard

  
Chief of staff of the army- Insignia- Lion

  
General of the army (of the left, right, center, or province) -Insignia-Kirin

  
Above that there’s the deishiba, AKA minister of summer/ war. 

  
Above that there’s the emperor, I figure when the emperor thats the field he (or she) wares armor that features a dragon with five claws on it’s hands/paws, whatever it is dragons have.


	7. Progress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gyousou's wounds heal and learns more about Chunghua.  
> Also there's a "sword" fight.

A month had passed since he'd first regained consciousness in Chunghua's house. His life with the young huntress had gradually eased in to a comfortable pattern. She went out twice a day to hunt and check her snare traps, and tried to return at mid day every day to check on him. Then she went out in the afternoon to look for food and check her traps again. She returned each evening before sundown to avoid being outside after nightfall when the yoma were at their most active. 

She saw to his needs to the best of her ability, making sure he was warm, fed, rgebandeging his injuries, and helping him bathe. Occasionally she would play a game or two of go with him using a board she’d cut out of a wooden plank and some black and white pebbles shed collected. She wasn’t very good at the game though and Gyouosu had to give himself a considerable handy-cap just to make the game interesting. 

At first he’d been to weak to even sit up on his own and had spent most of his time sleeping or watching the sky through the smoke hole. Now that his pneumonia had cleared up and he was healthier he could work on regaining his strength through simple muscle building exorcises.

Chunghua said it was still too early for him to go outside. She was worried that the cold air would cause a resurgence of his pneumonia. He found it galling to be confined inside the house, but given how sick he’d been he didn’t feel he was in a position to argue with her regarding his health. The last thing he needed to deal with was an illness on top of all his other problems.

According to Chung they were now in to early to mid spring, as evidenced by the buds on the kouji plants that grew in the area. However, with the snow storm raging outside it certainly didn't seem like it. It was possible her reckoning was off but it was more likely that this was the result of the king's absence, his absence. 

The wind was howling outside. It had been snowing or rather blizzarding since sunrise. Visibility was limited and the temperatures were dangerously low outside. They had both been forced to stay indoors. Fortunately Chunghua had built up a stockpile of firewood, kouji seedpods, and a reserve of dried meat before the storm hit so they were able to keep the house comfortably warm, and food wasn’t going to be a problem for a wile. 

Gyousou or rather Sokka had been passing the morning by performing what had become his daily routine, on the empty space between his mattress and the fire pit. Mostly his routine consisted of stretches that worked his atrophied arm and leg muscles, sit-ups to build his abdominal muscles and some minimal weight lifting to build his upper body strength. He was still too physically weak to do anything more strenuous. The splints remained on both of his legs and his left arm, so this was the most he could manage until his bones healed further. 

  
Chunghua sat against the far wall by the door Fang had curled up next to her and was asleep. Chunghua had occupied her morning by continuing to make modifications to pieces of her gear or her mother’s, enlarging and lengthening them with new animal skins. She hadn’t said it in so many words but he understood that she was doing this in order to provide him with appropriate clothing for crossing the Barrier Mountains once it was time for him to leave. She had finished working on her mother’s newly enlarged coat and had switched to making more arrows a wile ago.

  
The feathers of large birds like geese or pheasants were preferable for use as fletching. However, she was using crow feathers, according to her crows where the most abundant birds in Tai’s sky these days with feathers that could be used for fletching . If he was being honest with himself that seemed pretty ominous. 

  
Interestingly, he had noticed she had a few arrows with triangular metal heads with backward slanting barbs, a favored type used by hunters. Those metal arrow heads were probably purchased before she'd fled here with her mother. However, many of the arrows she'd made today were nothing more than sticks with fire-hardened points. 

Which reminded him, he still didn’t know that much about his female savior.   
  
_I still don't even know her surname._ He thought ruefully as he watched her work.   
  
She had a Bun province accent, was an accomplished hunter, and her mother had been a doctor. However he didn’t know where in Bun province she was from, or what had happened to make Chunghua and her mother flee to the middle of nowhere. There was nothing effeminate or brightly colored among her personal effects or those of her deceased mother. Every piece of clothing the two women had brought with them was plain and practical; the sort of clothing that wouldn't attract attention and would be suitable for someone trying to hide by blending in with local peasants. 

Perhaps he could have believed she was just a peasant woman, except for the fact that the illusion was shattered every time she used more sophisticated language like "sadistic", or used medical terminology that suggested that her training had been more extensive than a simple apprenticeship . Her posture was far too good for a peasant as well. 

  
He had assumed she was a fugitive of some sort but he hadn’t asked. If he was being honest with him self it was probably none of his business any way. 

  
_In any event,_ he thought as he completed his 20th sit up, _my chief concern for right now is regaining my strength and stamina. Otherwise I’ll be unable to make it over the Barrier Mountains once the snow melts._

His thoughts drifted to Risai. Where was she right now? Was she still in Sai province or had she moved to Ran or Ai to avoid capture? Was she injured? Was she fighting for her life at this very moment? He had no way of knowing.

He paused and lay on his back for a moment to catch his breath. His arms stretched out to either side. His gray sleeveless shirt had become drenched in sweat shortly after he'd stared stretching. As a result he'd stripped it off before beginning his sit-ups. He now lay topless on the reed mats save for the woolen pants she’d given him and the bandages on his arms and torso. His abdominal muscles were burning but it was a good burn. He'd made a lot of progress rebuilding his muscle mass but his ribs were still annoyingly visible giving him a half starved appearance.

His hair had finally grown long enough that he could gather the strands growing from the top of his head and tie them back in a tail high on his scalp wile the rest of his hair was left loose. It wasn’t a proper topknot and it wasn’t quite a warrior’s wolf tail but it kept his hair from falling into his eyes as he preformed these exercises. He was still adjusting to having short hair just as he was still adjusting to having facial hair. He still had a beard but he’d been able to use her sheers to crop it close to his skin. 

He closed his eyes. From his position on the floor he could hear as well as feel Chunghua’s movements as she picked up her newly made arrows and replaced them in her quiver. The soft brush of her feet against the reed mats on the floor, the subtle twitching of the dogs paws as he stirred in his sleep, the texture of the wooden arrow shafts, the clinking of the arrows as they went in the quiver, and the silk like quality of the fletching. He could feel all of these things as if touching them with his own hands despite the fact that Chunghua was sitting across the fire from him. 

He'd experienced moments of heightened perception like this before when he'd been in his subterranean cell, when it had seemed as though he had been capable of groping around the entirety of his lightless confines, feeling his cell and all the objects in it with his hands like a blind man despite the fact that he'd been chained to the wall and incapable of any such exploration. 

  
At the time he had thought these perceptions were only the work of his imagination, or symptoms of the onset of madness. Yet, here he was free of his cell and these odd moments of perception continued. What did it mean? Was he still slowly going insane?

He felt it as Chunghua walked around the fire pit to kneel beside him. He opened his eyes and wasn't al all surprised to find her beside him exactly where he'd known she would be. "Having a nap there lieutenant Snoozels?" She asked jokingly smiling down at him. He could sense that her cheerful tone was masking her concern for him. 

  
He smirked back at her. "Just taking a little break before I start the next set." He said jokingly. His voice was still gruffer than it should have been, but he had gained enough strength to speak normally and he had stopped coughing some time ago 

"And I told you, you don't have to keep addressing me as lieutenant. Just 'Sokka' is fine." He added mildly.

He found that being addressed by his old rank was distracting. He had to keep reminding himself that when she said "lieutenant" she meant him. Where as he had no such problem when she used his birth name.

"Well the waters warm now so I'm going to go ahead an wash up." She gestured to the soup pot hanging over the fire pit. Steam was rising from beneath the lid.

"Go right ahead. I'll wash once I've finished." He gave her a tired smile as he sat up. He bent his left leg so that the knee was against his chest and he could rest his still splinted left arm on it. It still hurt a bit when he moved his left arm, but he could now use it to help with simple tasks even if he couldn’t use it for any heavy lifting or weight baring. 

the splint remained on his left leg as well. However his right shin was further along in the healing process, and Chunghua had replaced the splint on his right leg with a stiff leather wrap. According to Chunghua he’d only broken the tibia in his right leg, the smaller of the two bones in his shin. She had said that the break should be fully mended soon. He still couldn't put his weight on either leg but he still counted the removal of one splint as progress. 

"Go ahead. The water's still quite warm by the time your finished so I don't mind waiting." He assured her. 

"Okay, just-" she cut herself off and but her lip. "Just stop if you start hurting, alright."

 _She worries too much_. He thought.

  
"Of course" he said agreeably nodding and making a throwing away gesture with his right hand. He knew she had good reason to worry. If he pushed himself to hard now he could undo all the progress he made and worsening his injuries, ultimately increasing his recovery time. He respected her concerns and appreciated the fact that she wasn’t forcing the issue and pestering him about it. 

  
“Okay.” She shrugged as she took the pot off the fire and picked up a washrag and a change of clothing. 

One of the many amenities they lacked was a proper wash tub. When they wanted to bathe they had to heat water in the large stew pot and use wash rags to essentially take sponge baths. It wasn’t the most satisfying of bathing experiences but it was efficient. 

Fangs ears pricked up at the sound of the pot handle coming off the metallic hook that suspended it above the fireplace. He was suddenly wide-awake and prancing around wagging his tail in anticipation of something yummy.

“Oh, for the love of! Down boy!” Chunghua yelled. “It’s just water!” 

Fang tried to jump up on her, but she nimbly dodged the dog despite having her arms full. He couldn't help but snicker at the sight.

“Are you going to help me out here or what?!” She cried as she shot him a dirty look. 

He grinned back and made an honest attempt not to laugh as she wove around the tail-wagging beast, who for his part was determined to get at what ever was in the stew pot. 

He reached down and picked up the make shift crutch on the floor beside him, slowly, shakily he rose to his feet. Pain shot up his legs , but standing for a brief moment like this wasn’t going to do any real harm, especially sense most of his weight was on the crutch. He stood and reached up to the sack that Chunghua kept the dried meat in. He pulled out a dried length of deer meat. 

  
He whistled at the dog. Fang instantly turned around to face him. The dog’s ears were up and tail was raised at attention.  
  
“Here Fang! Food!” Gyousou called cheerfully as he sat, or rather softly fell back down on to his bed. He held out the meat to the dog. 

  
The mass of brown fur and canine muscle, also known as Fang, crossed the room in one bound. The next thing he knew the dog was practically sitting on him and licking his face enthusiastically. Gyousou grinned and reached around to scratch the back of Fang’s neck. He had grown very fond of the hulking mongrel. Fang reminded him of a similar mutt he’d owned as a boy when he’d been growing up on his fathers farm in Ai province. 

Fang finished washing “Sokka’s” face and then remembered that he’d been offered meat. Gyousou held up the dried meat for him and Fang snapped it up and pranced over to the foot of the bed to start gnawing on it. Gyousou wiped the doggy slobber off his face and beard with his discarded Shirt. The gash on the side of his face had healed some time ago in to a pale scar. 

“Your going to spoil him, Sokka.” Chunghua smirked form across the room. 

“Would you rather have him follow you in to the ‘bathing room’?” Gyousou teased as he raised an eyebrow at her sardonically. 

“Oh, please.” She laughed. “The last thing we need is a wet dog in here!” 

With that she walked over to the side of the house that had been sectioned off with an animal hide curtain. What with the two of them being of opposite genders and both having a healthy sense of modesty a curtained off area was a necessity in order to ensure that they both had privacy when bathing or changing clothes. Or rather it was necessary for Chunghua’s privacy. He’d needed her assistance with both of those tasks until recently. 

This had been embarrassing at first but Chunghua had explained that sense she was her mother’s apprentice, she was used to assisting her mothers patients with “personal care”. Thinking of her as a doctor, (or rather doctor in training, as the case my be), instead of as a woman had made him feel a little better about the situation. It had gotten less awkward as time passed, but he was glad he needed less of her assistance. Now he was much stronger and could take care of these things himself for the most part. 

  
Gyousou moved off the bed and back on to the reed mats by the fire, so that his back was to the curtain. He used his left hand to pick up one of the smooth river rocks Chunghua had brought back for him. They served as lifting weights. He picked up the lightest one, a black rock a little larger that his clenched fist, and began a series of simple lifting exorcises. 

There were the soft sounds of fabric on skin as Chunghua undressed, then splashing and dripping water as she began to scrub herself down with a washrag. She also stored soap root paste in the curtained area.

  
Gyousou completed 20 repetitions before his left arm began to hurt. He placed the stone in his right hand and continued to work . He needed to regain his upper body strength if he was going to be able to wield a weapon again. 

  
“Hay, Sokka?” Chunghua called from behind the curtain. “What branch were you in? Back when you were in the army of the left I mean.”

Gyousou paused in the middle of his exorcise. He sat back on his knees buying himself time to think. 

“Air cavalry reconnaissance division.” He answered. This was true; when he’d been a mere lieutenant he had been in command of an air cavalry recon platoon. 

“You were in air recon?” she sounded surprised. She continued rubbing herself down with the washrag as she spoke. “ ‘First in to the fight and first to get shot down’ isn’t that their motto?”

“No, technically their motto is just ‘first in to the fight.’ The last part was added on unofficially as a bit of barracks humor, but I’m surprised you’d know about something like that.” 

_Well_ , He thought, _she knows about military issue arrowheads and army division mottos, and used the military slang word “recon” instead of reconnaissance, interesting._

“I thought you had to be crazy to be assigned to air recon? Don’t they do the really dangerous stuff, like seek and destroy missions, and covert operations like sabotage?” 

“Well yes, my unit would operate autonomously away form the main body of the army for long periods, some times behind enemy lines performing covert operations, as you say. Other times we were in the main armies’ front lines or served as a skirmishing unit.”

  
“Huh, I knew you were one tough bastard, but dam!” she sounded genuinely impressed. 

“Now that story you told me about how you broke out of prison by dressing in a stolen guard’s uniform seems slightly more believable.” She laughed.

He sat up, chuckling as well. He had told her about his hap hazard escape form Dingyu prison some time ago. 

“I’m quite serious!” he said jovially. “They didn’t realize I was an escaped prisoner until I was literally standing at the gate.” 

“I still say it sounds like something out of a bad shusai stage comedy.” She paused for a moment. “Or a corny drama.” She added. 

Gyousou chuckled some more reminiscing about some of the crazy missions he’d carried out as a young lieutenant. He thought about telling her some of his more interesting stories, and then realized that this was a bad idea. Those wars had been over 100 years ago. He doubted any one other than a sennin would remember the Black Powder Rebellion, for example. He decided to change the subject. 

“Did you have family in the service?” He realized too late that this question could bring up sorrowful memories for her. With Tai’s armies under the control of a usurper like Asen having family in the army could be troubling subject for her, to say the least.

  
The sounds of scrubbing stopped behind the curtain. “Yes,” she answered her voice tinged with both sadness and pride. “My father was a in the air cavalry, he served as part of a mounted archer battalion.”

 _Air cavalry,_ he thought, _that means her father had to have been in one of the imperial armies. The provincial armies don’t have air cavalry units._

  
“A mounted archer? That takes skill.” He replied. He’d just realized something. He looked over to where she’d left her bow and quiver. “Did you inherit your bow from him?” 

  
“Yes, but it’s not a standard issue bow as I’m sure you can tell. My father made it himself.”

“Ah, yes I recognized it as having the classic Yuan re-curved design. That style offers good distance and penetration.” He said with a nod. 

  
“You know about Yuan style bows. Were you an archer? They have archers in recon right?” She asked. 

“Yes, and I’m a decent shot myself but I’m more skilled with pole arms or a sword.” 

  
He paused. “If you don’t mind my asking, what happened to your father?” 

_Of course,_ he thought, _I'm really asking if he’s still in the army. If he is, he would be in service to Asen.”_

The washrag resumed scrubbing. “He retired from the army years ago, back when I was little. Right now I don’t know if he’s alive or dead. When the army showed up at our town he stayed behind to buy us time to escape.” She made a dismissive scoffing noise. “The army used to be respectable but now, they’re just a collection of thugs in uniforms.” 

  
“I’m sorry.” He said. 

After a few more minutes she came out from around the curtain in clean cloths and with wet hair.

“Your turn.” She said simply. 

He began to ease himself up using the crutch as Chung came around beside him. He couldn’t quite manage moving on his own yet, even with his crutche. He could stand for short periods but he still needed Chung to support some of his weight in order to move forward. 

She helped him across the room and lowered him in to a sitting position beside the pot on the other side of the curtain. 

“I’m sorry if I said something that offended you.” He said as she began undoing the split on his left arm. 

She sighed. “It’s fine. I-” she stopped her self and looked away. “Anyway,” she continued, obviously trying to change the subject, “do you think you’ll need help washing your back?”

  
“No, I don’t think so.” He replied mildly. He was intently curious and wanted to press the issue, but sensed that continuing to pick at her wounds wouldn’t get him anywhere. 

After undoing the bandages on his torso and helping him unbind the split on his left leg, she retreated to the other side of the curtain. 

He took his turn bathing and as usual found that the water she’d left him was strangely still boiling hot. 

  
()()()()()()()()()()()

A child’s voice cried out in pain, a high piercing wail of terror and agony. 

“Kouri! Where are you!?” Gyousou called. His black armor clanked as he rushed through the all to familiar but strangely darkened corridors of White Jewel Palace. It was as though all the light and life had been leached out of the very walls. What should have been clean white marble seemed instead to be black granite; the air was tainted and filled with shadow where there should have been vibrant light. His steps were sluggish, and halting as he held a hand to his bleeding abdomen. 

Another sharp cry of pain from ahead, just beyond the doors to the throne room. 

“Kouri! I’m coming!” He called as he staggered against the massive intricately carved double doors. The carved dragons on the white and gold door seemed to glare down at him reproachfully as he forced the door open and pressed in to the room beyond. 

“Kouri!” he gasped as he registered the macabre scene within. 

Asen sat on the throne, proud and resplendent in his kingly finery. The strings of perls suspended from the mianguan upon his head hung before his malevolent violet eyes. Asen grinned venomously seeing Gyousou enter the room. 

Taiki, lay at his feet. A boy, no more than eleven, he was curled in the fetal position as he convulsed in pain. The boy was wearing the same black formal robes he had last seen him in on the day he had left for Tetsui. The black blotches of Shitsudo were visible on his bare face and hands. 

“Gyousou Sama.” The boy whimpered between pained gasps. 

He had only seen one other kirin succumb to the disease, and that had been Tairin the previous kirin of Tai. He had watched as her disease had progressed, a clear indication that the Vain King had lost the mandate of heaven. Eventually the female kirin had become bedridden, covered with the same sinister black blotches that now covered Taiki. 

“Kouri!” Gyousou sobbed as he staggered forward. If only he could reach him, hold him, tell him how sorry he was for allowing this to happen.   
Suddenly strong hand reached out from the swelling cloud or darkness that had crept in from the door way behind him and grabbed his ankle. Then thousands of hands grabbed him like claws of steel, slamming him to the floor and pinning him down. 

  
Gyousou tried to claw his way forward but the stone floor beneath him was growing slick with his own blood. 

“Asen! What have you done! How dare you hurt Kouri!”

Asen threw back his head and began to chuckle, seeing Gyousou’s anguish. 

Taiki curled inward even more as if Asen’s laughter was physically painful to him. His small arms clenched tight against his stomach. 

“I didn’t do a dammed thing.” Asen said almost conversationally as he stepped over Taiki’s tiny clenched body and stepped down form the golden dais the throne rested on. 

“Only a king can cause his kirin to contract shitsudo.” He explained mildly as he was suddenly standing directly over Gyousou’s prostrate form.   
Asen looked back to the child curled on the dies before the throne. “This is all your doing your doing my old friend. Face it you had your chance and your range as king ended in spectacular failure. ” 

The hands of solidified darkness held him tight as Gyousou struggled to free himself, to strike at Asen, to run to Taiki, to do anything. The darkness surged forward like a smoke cloud or a flood of sewage. It flushed in a torrent that filled the throne room and claimed up the walls like venomous snakes.   
Asen threw back his head and laughef again and his form seemed to dissolve and disperse in to the speeding shadows. Gyousou fought to keep his head above the dark mass. It was cold, like the waters of a frozen river, so cold it sapped the feeling from his limbs. He struggled to keep his head above it and swim toward Taiki who was still above him on the dies before the throne of Tai. 

“Kouri!” he called again. 

Taiki raised his head slightly tears rolling down his small pale cheeks. “Master, please save me!” he whimpered. 

That was the last thing he saw as the darkness pulled him under and engulfed him completely. 

()()()()()()()()()()()(  
“Sokka! Wake up!” Chunghua shouted as she shook him by the shoulders.

  
Sokka’s red eyes opened abruptly as he suddenly found himself gasping for air between coughs. The coughing subsided after a moment and the gasps slowly eased in to pants. He found himself awake and drenched in a cold sweat with an aching head and a resurgent fever. 

His eyes darted around the house and focused on the orange haired from of Chunghua.

“What happened?” he asked between pants.

“You were having a nightmare. You cried out, and I woke you.” She said. Her pale blue eyes were still wide from the panic of a moment ago.   
She bent away to one side then and dabbed at his face with a clothe drenched with icy water.   
  
“I’m sorry,” she added. “This is all my fault.”

The horror of the nightmare was slowly fading, gradually his fever clouded mind remembered; the other day he had gone outside for the first time since waking up here. It had been a warm day, melting snow had been dripping from the tree branches and the ground had been covered with puddles. Chunghua had helped him walk around the clearing the house sat in with the aid of his crutch. It had felt so good just to see the sky again. The sun had been a patch of brightness veiled by thick gray clouds, it had poked threw holes in the cloud cover a few times wile he’d been out. Being able to walk outside, even if he had to use a crutch and steady himself by leaning against Chunghua, had felt like a victory. He remembered smiling at Fang’s antics as the dog had bounded in to the underbrush to chase after small furry scurrying things. 

  
He’d stayed out with Chunghua until she’s noticed that his breathing was becoming ragged and forced. She’d insisted that they go in then. He’d paid for his brief taste of freedom that night. The fever had returned. Chunghua had spent the night awake beside him, fighting to keep his fever down. It had been a long, horrible, sleepless night for both of them. 

He sighed as he looked over at her. She looked haggard, her hair was a mess, her deer hide shirt was rumpled and here eyes were red rimmed with dark circles beneath. 

“Are you all right?” he asked. His voice was raspy but his throat wasn’t as painful as it had once been. 

  
“That’s what I’m supposed to ask you!” She groused then she relented with a sigh. “I’m just tired but other wise I’m fine.” She said grumpily. “I’m more worried about you. How are you feeling this morning?” 

  
“Dizzy.” He admitted. He reached up to put his left hand over hers as she pressed the cold wad of cloth to his forehead. Her hand slipped out from under his as he did so. His left arm had recently mended to the point where she’d felt confident about removing the wooden splint. It was a small sigh of progress. 

“My head is throbbing like someone took a mace to it.” he said bitterly.

The cold water felt good against his aching head. The tried sitting up as he held the cloth in place. That was a mistake. The room seemed to sway around him and he gowned as the throbbing in his head intensified as though his scull was being split apart. He pitched backward and landed heavily back against the bed. 

“I’m sorry.” Chunghua said again. 

“What are you apologizing for?” he gowned. His eyes were closed but he could still “feel” that she had moved only a few feet and was bent over the fire pit. She tossed more kouji in to the pit then leaned over and lifted the kettle off the hook that suspended it over the heat.   
  
“I should have known it was too early!” her voice was a snarl full of self loathing. “I should have waited and made sure the pneumonia was gone before I took you outside! It’s my fault that you’re sick again! This happened because I’m a half trained novice! A fucking amateur! You should have someone more qualified and experienced looking after you!” She sounded furious with herself. 

Gyousou sighed. “I’m to blame as well. I’m the one who wanted to go outside in the first place.” He was too tired to be upset about it. All he wanted to do was sleep right now and hope his splitting headache went away. 

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, Chunghua. It’s because of you that I’ve made it thus far. ” He soothed.

  
With out opening his eyes he “watched“ as she poured the kettles contents in to two cups. 

“Is that willow bark tae?” he asked hopefully. The tea wouldn’t just help with the fever but was a treatment for headaches too. He’d had a lot of I last night but given the state of his headache he could certainly use another cup. 

“Yeah.” She said with a sigh, probably assuming he’d heard the sound of the tea being poured. “I figured we both needed some after the night we had.” 

Gyouosu realized something then. “Where’s Fang?” he asked. 

“He went out to ‘do his duty’.” She said bluntly. “Tentei am I glad he’s house broken.”

“But it’s raining?” he asked. He could both feel and her the soft impacts of the raindrops on the thatched roof. 

“So, I’ll just have to pounce on him with one of my shirts or something and dry him off before he has time to shake dry.” She said matter of factly as she walked over on her knees with a cup in each hand. 

She shifted in to a sitting position beside him as she set the tea down. He cracked his eyes open and looked up at her. 

“Would you help me sit up?” he ventured, unwilling to repeat his experience from a moment ago. 

“Sure.” She said with a tired smile as she leaned down. 

He kept the icy clothe pressed to his for head with his left hand as she eased him upward and adjusted the pile of pelts behind him. He leaned back against the cushioning pelts gratefully. 

“Thank you.” he sighed. 

She pressed on of the tea cups in to his right hand. He brought it to his lips and sipped greedily. 

“Who’s Kouri?” she asked suddenly. 

He paused and lowered the tea cup slowly. 

"Kouri" had been the name he’d given Taiki using a modified version of the characters of the given name Taiki had used when he’d lived in Hourei. Very few people, if any, outside White Jewel Palace knew that name. 

He fixed her with a suspicious look.

  
She glared back at him and huffed out an annoyed sigh. “You called out to her in your sleep! You were practically screaming! Tentei above it’s not like I eavesdropped on you or anything!” She snarled as she threw her arms up in exasperation. 

“He.” Gyousou said evenly. “Kouri is a boy.” He brought the cup back up to his lips but paused again, then paused. “Or he was a boy. If it’s been six years he’d be seventeen now.” 

She looked at him over the rim of her tea cup, surprise and sadness mingled in her pale blue eyes. 

“Sokka,” she asked as she put the cup down, “is he your son?” 

“He’s my ward.” He said turning to her as he set the tea in his lap.

  
That wasn’t entirely accurate, as Gyouosu saw it a kirin was their king’s keeper. They were their to council their kings to be merciful and compassionate. Perhaps it would have been more accurate to say that he had been Taiki’s ward after a fashion. But the child had only been eleven when he’d last seen him and Gyousou couldn’t deny that he’d felt the stirring of some latent paternal instinct toward Taiki. 

“In some ways I suppose he is like a son to me. ” He admitted, pleased that his voice was less horse now that he’d had something to drink. “I was his guardian, and we lived together in the capital.”

  
“So, if Kouri was just a boy when you left to meet up with the king on the road to Tetsui, you must have left him with someone trust worthy then.” Chunghua said reassuringly. “Do you think he could still be in the capital?”   
  
He smirked at her. “No, I think...”,he paused, “I know they both escaped.” 

Gyousou pictured Risai as he had last seen her. She’d been there with Taiki to see him off when he’d left for Tetsui.   
“We shall pray for your safe return your majesty .” she’d said as she’d stood there with one hand resting protectively on Taiki’s shoulder. 

According to Chunghua, Risai had been dispatched to Jou province shortly after he’d been captured and according to both her and his now thankfully dead jailer Risai had been fighting a rebellion against Asen’s regime since then. 

As for Kouri, if Chunghua’s information was any where near accurate he might have escaped to Houri. As it was all He knew for sure was that Kouri was alive. If Taiki had died he’d know, wouldn’t he?

“I have to believe that they are both still alive.” He said out loud. “I know she wouldn’t let him come to harm no matter what.” 

“She?” Chunghua asked. A gentle smile spread across her face. “Is she your woman?” she asked with a mildly teasing tone. 

“Not exactly.” He said awkwardly. He was all too aware that his face was reddening. “She’s a trusted comrade.” He fumbled. 

  
Just then something caught his attention. His unseen hands felt something moving near the door. He tensed and turned his head toward the opposite wall where the door was. 

Chunghua raised an eye brow seeing the sudden shift in his body language. She turned to look at the door over her shoulder.   
  
“What is it Sokka?” She asked. Her voice was cold, flat and alert. Her voice was that of the hunter, keenly aware that she may need to fight in the next moment.   
  
  
“Something is out there by the door.” Gyousou answered in a similarly flat voice.   
  
Chunghua said nothing as she stood and grabbed up her spear. She took up a stance by the door and waited spear at the ready. 

Presently a pitiful whimpering came from outside. Man and woman relaxed. It was only Fang, wanting to come in out of the rain. 

()()()(()()()()()()(

  
2 weeks later  
Snow fell gently outside. As was typical of spring in Tai the weather seemed indecisive as to weather this was truly spring or a continuation of winter. Eventually the snow falling out side would melt and the land would succumb to spring. 

  
He grunted as he put his weight on his recently mended right leg. 

  
It had been a week since Chunghua had removed the braces from both of his legs and pronounced the limbs to be fully healed. Now all he had to do was practice walking. 

Right now his objective was to walk from one side of the house to the other, a trek of eighteen feet along the house’s long axis. His right hand was braced against the wall. Beyond that there was nothing else supporting his weight. He was only halfway across the single room and he was covered in sweat already. 

He growled in frustration as he felt his left knee buckle beneath him. Chunghua ducked beneath his left arm so that she could support him. She had positioned herself on his left side for just this reason, knowing that his left leg was likely to fail him first. He reluctantly leaned his weight against her. 

She said nothing as she steadied him, knitting her brows in concern. He grimaced as he leaned against her. Not because of the pain from his aching muscels but because he had been determined to cross the room on his own without her help. He’d attempted to cross the length of the house five times already today. Each attempt had been a failure. Each time he’d needed her assisttance to cross the room. He’d been hoping to avoid needing her assistance on the sixth attempt. 

  
“Thank you.” He managed to say between pants as he tried to pull away from her.

He realized with rising annoyance that both of his legs were shaking with fatigue and the long underused muscles were aching worse than before.

  
He lifted his arm off of her shoulders and attempted to right himself. This time both of his legs buckled under him and he felt himself begin to fall. 

  
Chunghua pivoted on her heel and ducked around in front of him. Her arms snaked beneath his armpits as she embraced him, catching him before his knees met the floor. Gyousou felt his face reddening in frustration and embarrassment at his uncooperative body.

  
“Here,” Chunghua said as she eased him down to the reed mats on the floor. “Maybe we should take a break for now. Give your legs a chance to rest before we give it another try.” She said encouragingly, as she let go of him. 

He snorted as his eyes darted away from her gaze. He couldn’t help but think that she was merely humoring him. 

“Very well.” He conceded angrily. He turned his back to her.

His legs continued to shake as his aching muscles convulsed from the abuse. Chung turned to face the fire. Her left shoulder was against his back.   
In a effort to get comfortable he oriented himself so that he could lean his back against her shoulder. He suspected that she’d decided to sit like this specifically so he could lean against her. He found her willingness to accommodate him annoying, it felt too much like pity just now. He stretched his legs out in front of him instead of bending hem in the lotus position as she was doing and began to rub the aching limbs. It was considered rude to sit with ones limbs sprawled out like this but there was no help for it and Chunghua wasn’t really one for formality anyway. 

“Your doing better than you did yesterday.” Chunghua pointed out with somewhat forced cheerfulness. 

  
He frowned as he brought his back off of her shoulders and lay down on the reed mat directly behind her to glare at the ceiling. He was seething with anger at himself and at his useless legs. He didn’t trust himself to answer Chunghua without venting that anger and self-loathing at her. As annoying as she was being right now she did’t deserve that. 

  
Suddenly his view of the ceiling was blocked by the looming mass of Fang, particularly his wet pink tong which promptly delivered a series of slobbery dog kisses to his face. 

“Ga! Get off of me!”, he yelled as he pushed Fang off. He gasped and spluttered as he rose up trying to get the gagging sent of Fang’s dog breath off of him.

  
“Bad dog!” Chunghua yelled. “Bad, bad dog!” She pointed at the far corner of the house.

  
Fang whined and tucked his tail between his legs as he walked sadly to the indicated corner. 

  
“Sorry about that Sokka.” She said turning to him.

  
“Miserable animal,” he spat,” I think some of it got in my mouth!” he added disgustedly as he wiped at his face and beard. 

  
“Are you alright?” She asked.

“Oh please,” he scoffed, “Dog slobber isn’t going to kill me!” He said with disdain.

“That’s not what I mean.” She said flatly. “It’s going to be a wile before the weather’s warm enough to melt the snow of the mountain roads so there’s no need to push your self like this! It’s like every time you stumble you take it as a personal insult, when really it’s a miracle that you’re able to walk at all!” 

  
He thought this over as he looked down at his trembling legs. 

  
“That’s just not good enough.”, he answered darkly. 

Suddenly Chunghua leaned her left shoulder against his back. “Why are you in such a hurry to fight? Do you really think one more guy in the fight is going to make a difference?”, she said with a sad sigh. 

  
He leaned forward and massaged his aching knees. “I’m not ….I just need to-“, he cut himself off. “Never mind. Forget I said anything!” He blurted dismissively as he straitened up against her. 

  
“Need to what? Do something stupid and heroic for the hell of it!”, she said angrily. 

  
Something snapped inside of him. He unleashed the anger that had been rising inside of him. 

“Asen was able to steel the throne because of my incompetence!” He shouted. “If I hadn't been thrown from my saddle on the road to Tetsui-” he stopped himself, realizing what he was saying. He couldn't let his temper get the better of him. He had to rein himself back. 

“In any case,” he continued more calmly, “I failed to protect the king. There for every disaster that’s befallen our kingdom in the last six years is partly my fault! I can’t just sit here and allow Asen to continue to bring our country to ruin.” 

  
“Well I want that asshole dead too!” She snarled right back at him. “But what the hell can one man or one woman for that matter, do about it?”, She demanded. She sounded just as frustrated and full of impotent rage as he was. “Are you going to walk up to White Jewel Palace and say,” her voice took on a sickeningly sweet tone, “‘Hello Mr. Usurper, if your not busy burning down villages and slaughtering civilians right now, would you please bend over and expose your neck so I can give you a clean decapitation’!” 

“Obviously not.” He scoffed.

He considered for a moment. He’d told her he planned to cross the Barrier Mountains and go to Zui province, but he hadn’t told her why. Perhaps it was time he shared that information with her. 

“Wile I was in prison my jailer let slip that General Ryushi Risai was leading a rebellion in Sai province. That was what gave me the strength to engineer my escape form that—“, an involuntary shudder forced him to break off as he remembered his stinking, dank, frigid stone cell. “That place.”, he finished. 

“General Ryushi Risai is still alive?” she sounded genuinely surprised. She turned to stare at him.  


“As far as my jailer was aware , yes.” He nodded. 

  
“And she’s in Sai? Huh, the last I heard she was leading a group in Jou.” Chung rested her hand against her chin thoughtfully. The knuckle of her index finger was just below her lower lip as she spoke quietly, more to herself than to him, “She must have moved her operations. That would make sense. People have been saying that there aren't as many Yoma to the south. The situation there is much safer in general, and they say some guys in Sai’s provincial government are still loyal to the true king, or at least that’s what people were saying two years ago.”

Gyousou thought this over. Granted he was working with rumors and hear say from questionable sources but his minister of the cabinet had been the former lord of Sai province. It was possible that some of his subordinates still felt loyalty to him because he had bestowed such a high honor on their former governor. However there was something else on his mind. 

“You sound well informed.”, He said mildly. 

This wasn’t the first time she’d made reference to Risai and Gyousou was beginning to suspect that Chunghua had more then a simple peasants knowledge of the movements of the major players in this conflict. She certainly seemed to be more than what she seemed. 

“I take it you have an interest in General Ryushi?”, he probed. 

“Lets just say general Ryushi isn’t or, maybe more accurately wasn’t, the only one who decided to stand up and fight back against the usurper!”, Chunghua said in a voice mixed with both anger and sorrow. “And that’s all I’m saying on the matter.”, She growled. 

An awkward moment passed. The only noises that filled the house were the crackling of the coals in the fire, the sound of Fang scratching himself, and the soft sound of the snow falling outside.

  
_And now the truth comes out._ He thought. 

He had already deduced that she was a rebel. Between her obvious hatred for Asen whom she simply called “the usurper” or “that asshole”, and her mentioning that her father had been in one of the three imperial armies, there was little room for doubt. But this was the first time she’d mentioned or hinted at taking part in any act of violence against Asen’s regime. 

“Earlier you mentioned that your father stayed behind to cover your escape when the army arrived at your town. What exactly happened?” he probed cautiously.

  
She shrugged. “Oh, the usual.” She said evasively. “ The army arrived and started killing every one in sight. Set the village on fire and drove every one out in to the open where they could fill them full of arrows.”, She said acidly, clearly unwilling to share any more information than she already had. “You’ll hear the same story over, and over again, as you go south.” 

  
“As I’ve already told you my mother died of her injuries last winter. As far as I know I’m the last member of my family who’s still alive." So, I'm not interested in fighting a loosing battel. I’ve resolved to live and survive. So long as I survive some vestige of my family survives. If I throw my life away recklessly It’s like all my family dies a second time.” 

Gyousou had buried his last living relative some 80 years ago. He understood what she meant when she said that she was living for the sake of those who had died. It was how survivors coped with the guilt and continued their lives. 

  
“It’s because of Kouri and your lady friend, isn’t it?”, she said bluntly with a sad sigh. She shifted just so against him as she folded her arms. 

  
“That’s why your in such a hurry to go south, isn’t it?” 

Gyousou turned around folding his legs to one side as he moved to sit beside her instead of lean against her. 

  
“It’s more than that. I can’t forgive Asen for what he’s done. I have to try to rectify this , all of this before I die or I wont be able to life with my self. I’m a soldier, I fight. It’s what I do. ”

He sighed “I don’t know if she’s alive or dead, I’m not even sure that Kouri is with her, but I owe it to her, to both of them to keep fighting for the kingdom to try to make this a nation worth living in.” This was the truth. 

“I know that if they are still live they are likely part of Ryushi’s rebellion in Sui. I’m sure you understand my... Don’t you feel the same way about your father and the rest of your family?”   
  
“I hate him, and I can’t forgive him, but after what that asshole's lackeys did to us-” she broke off. “I’m not exactly brimming with optimism.”   
  
“There’s an old saying in the army. ‘Don’t assume anything until you see the body.’ I think you should keep it in mind where your father and the rest of your family is concerned.”   
  
“That’s a nice thought.” She said sarcastically.   
  
“Its good sense.” He insisted. 

She blinked, a look of realization on her face. “That’s what your thinking with regard to your lady friend and Kouri, isn’t it? Your going to go forward under the assumption that they are alive until your proven other wise it that it?” Her tone was no longer bitter or acidic, she almost sounded wistful. 

“It’s either that or resign myself to their deaths without trying to find them first.” 

  
“You have to know that your odds of finding general Risai’s forces aren’t that great, right?” she said after a moment.   
  
“I realize that. They are rebels. It goes with out say that they will be difficult to find.” He said wth a shrug. 

“What is her name?” She asked.  
  
“Does it matter?” He said with a sad sigh.   
  
“Oh, that’s a lovely name for a woman!” she answered with a rye grin.  
  
He found himself chuckling despite himself.   
  
“So, I’m guessing she’s some fair skinned noble woman with luxuriant dark hair.” Chughua prompted as she leaned against him. “What is she like?”  
  
“She is….” he trailed off.   
  
“I take it she’s better looking than I am." She fluttered her eyelashes at him comically. "You know, given that I’m too tall too muscular, too flat-chested and way too masculine in general!” She said with a laugh.  
  
He let out a brief huff. “Well, you are flat-chested” he said good-naturedly.   
  
“All the better for my prowess as an archer!” She nodded with an expression of supreme confidence. "Large breasts get in the way of drawing a bowstring."  
  
He chuckled at that. Most of the animals she’d brought back had been killed cleanly with one or tow shots to the head or heart.   
  
“Actually she’s a soldier.” Gyousou admitted. “And like you she is rather muscular, but she is much more feminine.”  
  
“Huh! Here and I thought someone as high ranking as a lieutenant would have their eye on a noble woman or something.”   
  
“Well you thought wrong.” He said mildly.   
  
“So I take it you r in a big rush to go south because you figure your lady soldier is part of te rebellion in Sai province.”   
  
“Yes,” he hesitated, “at least I hope so.”   
  
“Well if she’s any where near as tough as you she probably is.”   
  
“Oh, she’s very resilient.” He said confidently.   
  
How many people can say that they have survived being attacked by a toutetsu. He thought.   
  
“So is this lady soldier your lady wife or are you in some sort of common law arrangement?” She asked teasingly.   
  
“Well, it’s complicated.” He replied awkwardly.   
  
He remembered the first time they kissed. They had been going over the security arrangements for the capital prier to his departure to Ttesui. He’d been with her in his office in the inner palace. He’d simply summoned her to discuss the deployment of her troops, that was all he had intended. Then he had impulsively leaned across the desk and kissed her. The next thing he’d known she had kissed him back, and well one thing let to another.   
  
“We are in the same chain of command so that complicates things.” He said somberly.   
  
“Oh, the old rule of", she pitched her voice low in a parody of a stuffy old bureaucrat,"'thou shall not cultivate relations whit subordinates nor superiors'."

"Also known as the army's number one most openly flaunted regulation.” She added playfully.   
  
Gyousou frowned. Yes, the rule about having relationships with superiors or subordinates in te same chin of command was often flaunted or outright ignored by soldiers. But Heaven tended to pay a great deal more attention to the sovereign who was supposed to be responsible for enforcing those rules.

He sighed.   
  
“Oh, I see.” she said sadly. “But you still in love with her.“ She put her arm around his shoulders in consolation.   
  
“Yes very much so." he replied as he stared in to the fire. "I’m hoping that when I go south I can reunite with her once more. She’s one of the noblest and kindest people I’ve known, she’s strong but compassionate and very intelligent.”  
  
“She sounds wonderful.” Chunghua said wistfully.   
  
“Yes she is.”

()()()()()()()()()()(()()()()()()(()()(()()()()()()(()  
2 weeks later. 

It was finally starting to feel like spring. The temperatures had been on the rise. Snow still clung to the ground in patches reluctantly giving way to grass. The weather could easily laps back in to icy winds and blizzards but the sun shown brightly today. Chung had found three rabbits caught in her snare traps this morning. So she was in a good mood as she made her way back threw the woods to the house. The rabbits hung from the cord slung over her shoulders. Fang was happily padding along beside her. 

Presently she came in sight of the house and was surprised to find Sokka sitting out front on the large tree stump she used as a base for chopping fire wood. 

She'd been taking him for walks outside regularly. The pneumonia was definitely gone now, and the fresh air and sunshine were good for him. At first he'd needed to lean on her and his crutch, then he'd only needed his crutch, then his legs had gotten stronger to the point where he just needed a walking stick. More recently he'd been able to walk on his own, although she still accompanied him for his own safety. There were yoma and other predators to worry about after all.   
  
She stood there confused, as she watched him. Usually he waited for her inside. For a moment she wondered if something was wrong, but Sokka seemed completely relaxed. 

He was wearing the hide coat and pants she'd enlarged for him. The clothing was a patchwork of brown tan and gray hides, especially along the seams at the sides, and back of the coat. He was also wearing the black leather boots that he'd had when she’d found him. 

His hair had grown a bit longer sense she'd given him that all too necessary hair cut. Loose strands of his gleaming white hair still hung down on either side of his face, but he'd managed to pull most of it back and out of his face in to a short tail high up on his scalp. He was still pale, but he no longer looked sickly. Some color had returned to him as his health had improved and his skin was now more of a warm ivory color.   
  
He looked serene. as his breath misted in the rays of morning sunlight. His face was turned up toward the warmth of the pale sun. He was bent forward slightly with his hands resting on his knees. His eyes were closed as he listened to the early spring bird songs from the surrounding trees. It was such a peaceful scene. She stood there for a long moment, unwilling to disturb him. After all the frustration and aching muscles he’d endured pushing his body to the point where he could walk on his own again, he deserved a tranquil moment to himself. 

However, Fang had no such compunction and ran up to him barking happily and wagging his tail. Fang put both of his front paws on Sokka's lap and looked up at the man with his tongue lolling. Sokka smiled down at the dog and leaned down to scratch him behind the ear. 

Chunghua snorted, and rolled her eyes. With the serenity of the moment broken she sighed and stepped out of the woods.

"Hay there!" She said simply as she walked forward. "You enjoying the sunshine?" she asked playfully as she rested a hand on her hip. 

"Yes." He smiled back at her, as he continued petting the dog."I was geeting board staring at the walls waiting for you to come back. So I thought I'd weight for you out here."

"Catch!" He said suddenly. 

He tossed a roughly three foot long stick to her. She balked and took an involuntary step backwards as she caught it with both hands. 

"What the hell?!" She squawked. 

Meanwhile Fang had bounded over to her intent on the flying stick barking and wagging his tail like crazy. Fetch was one of his favorite games after all. 

Sokka whistled and the dog stopped his antics and looked over at him, tail still wagging. 

She glared at him. 

"Sorry about that." He said as he got to his feet, perhaps a bit shakily. It had only been a few days sense he’d stopped using a walking stick and he was still a little unsteady on his feet. She noticed that he had a nearly identical stick in his hand. 

She folded her arms and half-heartedly glared at him. "I'm seriously getting suspicious of how well you get along with my dog. If I didn't know better I'd think you were trying to charm him away from me." She groused.   
  
"But seriously what's the big idea, throwing a stick at me I mean." She asked pointedly as she waved the stick at him angrily. 

He smiled back at her. "If your father taught you how to use a bow I imagine he also taught you how to use a sword am I correct?"

It was well known that being adequately skilled with both a bow and sword were requirements for advancing from basic training and joining the military proper. Many soldiers taught their children how to use weapons early on regardless of gender in order to encourage them to pursue a military career. 

"Sure." she shrugged confidently. " Well, I mean, he showed me the basics anyway." She added more uneasily.  
  
_Was telling him about my father a mistake?_ She thought as she licked her lips nervously, unsure where exactly he was going with this. 

"That will do." He said with a grin as he moved in to ready position, gripping his stick like a sword. "I thought we could spar. I need the practice and it’s been too long since I've held a sword."

"Uh......." She said dully, blinking in confusion. First, she felt relieved, as what he was proposing had little if anything to do with the information she'd let slip about her father. Secondly, she was just dumbfounded. 

"I'm sorry. What?" She spluttered. 

He eased out of ready position. "I'd like to spare against you." He said casually. 

"Uh yeah, I got that." she said flatly. "I can also think of a dozen reasons why this is a bad idea. Chief among them being I don't want to hurt you!" She challenged. 

He sighed, and explained calmly. "Alright, your a novice, and I'm out of practice and not fully recovered form my injuries. First off I don't think you'd be able to hurt me, I think that if any thing my current state gives you an even handicap."

She felt her spine stiffen. 

_"Novice"._ She thought angrily. 

"Secondly," he continued, not noticing her reaction, " I'll go easy on you, and I trust that you will hold back against me in turn."

He hadn't meant to insult her but it still rankled. Sure, he had risen to a pretty high rank, and he had been in the recon division and sieved as a skirmisher. That meant he had seen a lot of close quarters combat and had to be pretty dam good with a blade, but did he really think she was that much of an amateur compared to him. 

_Oh, he seriously thinks that!_ She thought. _He only started walking on his own a few days ago, and he's more concerned that he might accidentally hurt me, instead of the other way around!_

"You know what, fine." She said bluntly. She hung the brace of rabbits over a low hanging tree branch (in case Fang got any ideas about having an early dinner). She also leaned her spear, bow and quiver against the base of the tree. 

She moved up to him stick in hand and assumed a ready position of her own.   
  
"Let's do this." She smiled challengingly. 

"Remember, this is just practice. I’m not going to go all out agianst you, I'm going to suggest you do the same." He cautioned smiling back at her. 

She blinked and reminded herself that he was still recovering, then nodded at him.  
  
He nodded back at her with a smile, then it was like a wall of glacial ice descended over his face. It was like he'd become a different person he radiated quiet intensity, it was like standing in front of an oncoming ground blizzard. 

Taken aback she quickly schooled her own expression in to an unreadable mask just as she'd been taught to all those years ago. 

They both stood poised in ready position; "swords" slightly eased at an angle from their bodies, knees bent slightly, spines straight. Sokka's dark red eyes stared straight ahead in to Chungs bright blue eyes. Every thing seemed to stop. 

A bird chirped somewhere in the trees above and before leaping into the air. 

The two leapt at each other. 

)()()(()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

If he was being honest with himself, this probably was a very bad idea. Unfortunately, he only just now realized this as he leaped in to motion. 

At one time he was said to be one of the greatest swordsmen in the world. That had been during the publicity after scoring one point against King En in a duel. He had never thought that much about it but, it was true that his skill with a blade had made him a truly dangerous opponent on the battle field. Even holding back he feared he might severely injure Chunghua. 

Suddenly his stick received an unexpectedly fierce blow from Chung that halted and deflected his own strike. He leaped back instinctively making a bit for time and distance to assess what had just happened. 

Chung pursued. She came at him with a barrage of rapid but less forceful strikes. He deflected each of them in turn. But this left him on the defensive, unable to mount an attack of his own. Then he suddenly spun and evaded jumping on the tree stump he'd been sitting on earlier. She paused in her assault. She knew better than to charge in blindly agains some one with the advantage of holding the high ground. She circled to the right, looking for and opening. 

She said she'd been taught the basics, but it was blatantly clear that she'd been taught far more than that. 

He adopted a posture suggesting he was preparing to lunge. She suddenly kicked off the ground leaping to the left. Her "sword " aimed at his knees. 

He leaped off the stump aiming a drop kick at her chest. She saw it coming and crossed her arms over her front to catch it and deflect it. The impact forced her away. Her boot heels left muddy skid marks on the snowy ground. She bent over an dropped one hand to the ground to prevent her self from falling over. 

Gyousou himself, landed in a crouch, the landing was more unsteady than he would have liked. He quickly sprung at her giving her no time to recover from his kick. 

She was far more skilled then he'd thought. She was giving him the proper workout he so desperately needed. 

She staggered upright barely quick enough to block his first blow. It hit her with enough force to nearly break her stance. She withstood it all the same. He pulled back to strike. She began a series of graceful seemingly random side steps. He followed every movement launching a thrusting attack followed by a series of over head swings and side strikes. She parried and deflected them all with ease. Her movements were almost like a dance. 

He may have gained the upper hand and been on the offensive but with her fluidly deflecting everything he threw at her he felt as though she had some how gained control of the battle. He suddenly crouched and sprang up, aiming a slashing strike at her hip. 

She deflected, but he'd forced her to do it at an awkward angle, causing the force of the blow to to be transfused painfully to her wrist. 

She gasped and was forced to step backward. He pressed the attack charging in to her. She didn't have time to evade so she planted her feet firmly and leaned in to block. She met the force of his attack with all her weight. Their "swords" clanked together woodenly. Suddenly their swords rammed together, as they hurled all their strength against one another. 

She was indeed an exceptionally tall and strong woman. She was an impressive five foot nine, he was only slightly taller at six foot three, normally a small detail like this wouldn't matter, however, pressed body to body like this throwing their weight against each other it was a different story. He leaned in harder using the advantage his hight. Their eyes were locked he bore down on her. 

Suddenly her "sword" was tilted and sliding away under his. He didn't have time to react as she slipped away in to a twirling side step. He chose to stagger backwards rather than forward, as there was abruptly nothing to counter balance him. Moving forward would have left him vulnerable to the attach she'd been setting up with that twirling maneuver. He recognized her technique now, she was using the Viper Swallow swords style and using it well. 

Viper Swallow was aptly named, in that its practitioners combined the evasiveness of a swallow in flight with the quick precise attacks, and fluid grace of a viper. It was not an easy style to learn as it required a great deal of complicated foot work, and flexibility. Form the way she was able to quickly move in to the different attack and defense stances he could guess that she’d started training at a very young age. 

He had mastered several different styles during his career. Viper Swallow was one he'd studied but hadn't fully mastered. His own style mostly derived from the Mountain Tiger and Lightening Condor styles. Those schools focused on forceful blows and faints that set opponent up for the next attack. Both emphasized that any moment should be precise and serve a purpose. Where as Viper Swallow was all about being fast and using a lot of movement to distract an enemy and create openings in their guard. There two fighting styles couldn’t have been more different, and she was countering his very well with all her unpredictable moments. 

Too late he realized he’d lost his focus and let his guard down. She came at him from the side her stick coming down at him diagonally. He lurched backward to avoid her. She suddenly changed her stance and was no longer aiming for a side strike but was coming at him like a battering ram, her “sword” held parallel to the ground. Her blow connected hard delivered a jabbing strike to the center of his chest and forcing him backward. 

A lurch became a stagger. He managed to get his feet under him and ready himself for her next barrage. He realized then that he was breathing heavily and sweating. That surprised him. They hadn't been going at it that long, and he'd been holding back, or at least he thought he had anyway. 

"You alright over there?" Chunghua called. She was barely breathing hard at all, despite the fact that she'd just gotten back from hunting before they started. 

"We can just call it a draw and quit for today. " she offered uncertainly. 

As galling as it was he had to admit that there really wasn't any point in continuing. He may have succeeded in regaining some of his strength but the past fore and a half weeks of bed rest and relative inactivity hadn't helped him build his endurance. He still had a ways to go. 

"Yes." He said without hesitation. "We can do this again some other time." He spoke calmbly feeling the frustration and anger out of his voice. It wasn't Chunghua's fault that he was still so pathetic. He had to work harder.

"Oh, you bet!" She said excitedly.

  
He looked up in surprise as she bounded over the short distance to him. 

"That was amazing! Your amazing! Where did you even learn those moves! Especially that flying drop kick thing you did!" He honestly wasn't sure how to react to this. He felt debilitated, tired, and thoroughly frustrated with himself and now he was flushed with embarrassment. 

"It's kind of a long story." He said by way of explanation as he avoided making eye contact. 

She turned away still smiling and walked over to where she'd set her things. "You can tell me all about it as I skin theses rabbits." She lifted them off the branch and picked up her weapons.  
  
Fang reappeared bounding out of the underbrush with a mess of twigs and dirt in his fur. He'd clearly gotten bored with his humans and wandered off to chase a squirrel or something. 

()()()()()())()()()()()(()())()()()()()()()  
Later that afternoon.

It was hard for her to wrap her head around it. She'd figured he was good, after all they they didn't just recruit any one in to the air chivalry recon devision. Heck, they didn't recruit just anyone to join the army of the left, let alone any of the other three royal armies period. 

But Sokka wasn't just good he was amazing, even grand master level good. His stances, his blocks, evasions, and attacks, were perfect. He'd gotten sloppy near the end sure. But up till then he'd been like a whirlwind or a wild Sugu, or some nightmarish combination of both. 

Unfortunately, when she'd told him that he'd thought she'd just been saying that to be nice. Well actually it had been kind of hard to read his reaction. He'd just shied, shrugged and hadn't made eye contact. She hand no idea what style he’d been using just that whatever it was it came from a completely different school than her own Viper Swallow style. She had asked about where he’d learned how to fight like that, because of course, and all he’d said was, “its a long story.” 

He hadn't said much wile she'd skinned the rabbits either. All that she'd gotten from him was that he'd traveled a lot when he'd been in the army and had picked up bits and pieces of other techniques form other soldiers he'd met on campaign. Nothing she couldn't have guessed at herself admittedly. 

Actually he'd been really quiet since their sparing match, which was worrying. He’d struggled with bouts of depression all through his convalescents (who wouldn’t if they were stuck inside all day staring at the ceiling) but this seemed different. Not exactly brooding but he had been thinking pretty intensely about something. He'd also seemed mad, not at her though, more like at himself. 

_Oh, Tentei,_ she thought as she rolled her eyes heavenward, I _’m getting way too invested in my patient. This is what comes from living like a hermit for two years with just my dog for company._

The rabbits were roasting over the fire now. She looked up from the meat to Sokka. He had his back turned to her as he bent over the black stew pot. He was using the reflective surface of the water in it to shave. Once she'd finished with the rabbits he'd asked her for her skinning knife. 

  
“Why do you need my skinning knife all of a sudden?” She’d asked. 

“I intend to shave my my beard off with it.” He’d said resolutely. 

"Why? What's so bad with having a beard any way?" She’d asked curiously. 

He'd been sitting beside her at the time, he'd just turned and looked at her coolly with his intense dark red eyes. 

"I don't like having a beard. I've never grown a beard in my life. This-", he gestured angrily at his face,"-grew wile I was in prison. I want to remove it and not have to be reminded of that place any more!" He’d growled.

"I'll just clean it for you then." She'd said as she'd gotten up.

Well she certainly wasn't going to argue about it after that. If he thought of the facial hair as a constant reminder or perverse souvenir from his time in prison, than he should remove it. 

_When he put it in those terms.... It’s pretty obvious that this is something he needs to do for the sake of his own mental well-being_. She considered. _It doesn’t make any dammed sense, seeing as it’s only going to grow back anyway, but what the hell._ She thought with a shrug. 

  
She watched his back as he worked. 

He grunted as he cut himself and quickly rinsed off the wound. He'd done this three times now. Supposedly it had been six years sense he’d last done this and he was used to using a mirror suspended at eye level not looking down in to a reflective surface when he did this. 

No wonder he’s awkward and out of practice. She thought. Then again, it’s not like I’d do much better, it’s not like I have any experience shaving. The best I could manage was trimming it for him. 

He’d taken his shirt off before he’d stared to avoid getting it wet, as this involved splashing his face multiple times and lathering it with soaproot paste. 

Presently an odd thought struck her. He'd gotten bigger. Well he hadn't gotten taller or any thing, but he was larger. When she'd fished him out of the river he'd basically been a skeleton with the skin still on. He'd weighed about the same as the deer she'd bagged the same day if not less. His arms and legs had been like sticks, and he'd barely been able to raise his head. 

And now? She thought. 

Her eyes roamed over the expanse of his naked back and shoulders. He was still rather skinny, too skinny to be honest, but he’d put on a lot of weight and his body was all muscle and sinew. 

Every muscle on his lean frame stood out in stark definition in the fire light. The lighter arias of scar tissue were also highly visible against his ivory toned skin. She'd seen all this before. She'd undressed and washed him many times when he'd been skin and bones, but now it was like she was seeing him for the first time. Seeing those scars again on this man against the back drop of his improved health brought home what exactly he'd been subjected to. Thousands of small star-like puncture wounds from arrows or daggers, long white slashes from swords or possibly whip strikes, this man had survived all of these things. 

Some of these scars were old, old enough that they might have been wounds received when he was brought down it the ambush he'd talked about, before he'd been sent on to prison to be tortured for information. She'd been curious, of course, but she hadn't asked about it and she wasn't going to ask about it. He clearly respected her privacy, she would do the same for him. 

The worst of it was his hands. Apparently whoever tortured him had taken great delight in stabbing him through his hands and slashing at the skin on his knuckles, wrists and forearms. After seeing what he could do with a weapon it occurred to her that this had been some sort of an attempt to cripple him. If that had been the case it had failed miserably. 

He grunted again as he cut himself. 

"Finally." He he breathed. He ran his hand over his presumably now clean shaven face. He set the knife down and reached for his shirt. He quickly pulled it back on and used a sash to tie it shut. He ran his hand over his face again, turning his head one way and then the other to examine his reflection.  
She found that she was straining her neck to see what he looked like now that he didn’t have his familiar beard. 

Realizing this she simply cleared her throat, and asked. "So do you still have a face or what? I want to see." He remained seated as he turned around. "Oh wow!" Her eyes widened in astonishment.  
He was young! Up till now she'd thought he was old. She’d thought he was old because of his general frailty and white hair, but now seeing him clean shaven.... It was obvious he was closer to her age rather than her grandfathers or even her father's for that matter.

He was also handsome, in a thin, hollow cheeked sort of way. He had a strong jaw line and an aristocratic set to his high cheek bones. "What?" He asked raising a white eye brow at her. "Well, this is embarrassing," She began. " It's just that this whole time I thought you were an old man. Er.. let me clarify, I thought you were my grandfather's age. I mean sense you have white hair and all..." She said apologetically.   
())()())()()()()()()()()()()(Gyousou blinked a few times. For a few seconds he was completely unable to comprehend what she'd just said. She'd thought he was old, no not just old, old enough to be her grandfather. That's why she'd looked so shocked when she'd seen him clean shaven? "I..." he began, then thought better of it and tried again. "I'm thirty two, my hair has been this color since I was born." He explained. He self consciously tugged at a stray lock. "Really?" She asked leaning forward."Well, yes." He answered simply. "Sheesh, so your only 10 years older than me. I should have guessed, I mean you don't act like an old guy and you definitely don't fight like one.""I guess I'll take that as a complement." He said mildly. He felt himself relax. He found it a bit annoying that she been thinking of him as an old man this whole time, but he couldn't really blame her. He'd looked like an old man and he'd been at deaths door. 

He sighed, bringing his hand up to cover his face.  
“And you have all your teeth too, so that should have been a dead giveaway.” She added. “Oh, well guess I’m an idiot.” She said with a shrug.   
He started to chuckle then it turned in to an out right laugh.Chung started laughing too. Then Fang roused form his spot on the bed, and started running around the room barking happily.It felt so good the laugh. He realized he hadn't felt this much like himself in years. 

()()()()()()()()()()()))()()()

Hello every one reading my fan fic and thank you! At the time I'm writing this there have been 22 hits on my story. Yeah, that's probably nothing to brag about, but it lets me know that somebody is reading my fic. So, sincerely thank you every one! (bows in gratitude) ^_^  
Also quick update, the outlines for the next two chapters are lot rougher than I remember them being. Like "OMG how sleep deprived was I when I wrote this!" type rough. Sooo many incomplete sentences, and run-on sentences. All the horrible grammar!!! It's so messy!!!!! :P  
As such I'm still trying to workshop good names for the upcoming chapters. I have working titles but they suck! So, I'm currently thinking that chapter 8 will be coming out next month. Chapter 9 should be out shortly after that. 

Also, just a quick preview: remember how pyrokinesis is one of the tags I included on this story? Well that fun fire slinging stuff goes down in the next chapter! So don't worry I didn't lie to you.

BTW if any one has any suggestions for names for a chapter where stuff gets set on fire and shit gets real let me know. 

Also If you like this story please comment! It would mean a lot to me!

Again thank you so much.

())()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()(

Learn Chinese

Ryuushi — 劉紫 (axe + violet) 

Risai — 李斎 (plum + purification)

Kouri — 蒿里 (mugwort + village)

  
Mianguan-冕冠- basically its a Chinese Imperial Crown. It’s a headless with a long board places atop a topknot covering with something like 9 strings of pends Hading from the front and back of the board. I’ll include a link to a photo. 

https://althistory.fandom.com/wiki/Imperial_Crown_of_China_(Celestial_Ascendance)

plant talk

About willow bark- http://pennstatehershey.adam.com/content.aspx?productId=107&pid=33&gid=000281 The use of willow bark dates to the time of Hippocrates (400 BC) when people were advised to chew on the bark to reduce fever and inflammation. Willow bark has been used throughout the centuries in China and Europe, and continues to be used today for the treatment of pain (particularly low back pain and osteoarthritis), headache, and inflammatory conditions, such as bursitis and tendinitis. The bark of white willow contains salicin, which is a chemical similar to aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid). In combination with the herb's powerful anti-inflammatory plant compounds (called flavonoids), salicin is thought to be responsible for the pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory effects of the herb. In fact, in the 1800s, salicin was used to develop aspirin. White willow appears to bring pain relief more slowly than aspirin, but its effects may last longer. 

Chlorogalum pomeridianum, the wavy-leafed soap plant, California soaproot, or Amole, is the most common and most widely distributed of the soap plants, soaproots or amoles, which make up the genus Chlorogalum of flowering plants. It is occasionally known as the "wild potato", but given the plant's lack of either resemblance or relationship to the potato, this name is not recommended.   
It is found in most of California from the coasts to the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada, and in the Klamath Mountains in southwestern Oregon, but not in either state's desert regions. Wavy-leafed soap plant grows on rock bluffs, grasslands, chaparral, and in open woodlands.[1][2]   
The fibers surrounding the bulb were widely used, bound together, to make small brushes. Extracts of the bulbs could also be used as a sealant or glue.   
Cleansing  
The juices of the bulb contain saponins that form a lather when mixed with water, and both Native American people and early European settlers used the bulbs as a kind of soap; this is the origin of the plant's name. It was particularly used for washing hair, since it was held to be effective against dandruff.[9]   
Cuisine  
The young leaves can be used as food, but the saponins in the bulbs make these poisonous. However saponins are very poorly absorbed by the body and usually pass straight through, and in any case they can be destroyed by thorough cooking. The Miwok people roasted and ate the bulbs as a winter food.[9] In February 1847 Patrick Breen of the ill-fated Donner Party recorded that a Native American gave the starving settler some "roots resembling Onions in shape [that] taste some like a sweet potatoe [sic], all full of little tough fibres." Breen's son later called the roots "California soap-root"—almost certainly C. pomeridianum.   
Saponins are much more toxic to some other animals than they are to humans. Fish are particularly susceptible, and the bulb juices were used to kill or stun them so they could be caught easily.   
Medicinal  
The bulbs also had various medicinal uses, both external (e.g., for making a poultice to be used as an antiseptic, or as a rub in cases of rheumatism) and internal (decoctions were used for a range of purposes, including as a diuretic, as a laxative and against stomachache).[9] 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ***


	8. Firestarter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stuff gets set on fire, and a secret is revealed.

  
Time passed and gradually the weather became warmer.

  
there had been a few minor dustings of snow the last few days, but it had melted soon after falling. Winter was grudgingly giving way to spring. A few more weeks like this and the snow would be melted from the mountain passes. 

Little by little he’d been regaining his strength. Once he left Chung’s house he was planning to head for Twin Peaks Village or possibly Iron Harvest where he might be able to hear about the fates of his old comrades, particularly Enju and the rest of the Touda clan. From there he'd head for the White Ribon river and see if he could get passage on a south bound river barge. That was the plan anyway. He suspected that traveling through Bun province wasn’t going to be that easy but it couldn’t be helped.   
Game animals became more active now with the warmer weather. That was just as well as it meant it would be that much easier of him to gather enough provisions for his journey south. 

Pail sunlight shone down through the leafless branches overhead. It was still early enough in the day that the frost form the night before hadn’t melted yet. White crystals covered the twiggy underbrush around them. Slight breezes caused the branches to sparkle brightly in the harsh morning light. Unfortunately, the night had not been cold enough to freeze the ground solid. The pristine white frost hid a muddy, soggy mire of moss and cold mud just below the surface. It squelched quietly beneath their feet, as they walked. Nonetheless, hoof prints were also are in evidence with clear muddy trails, allowing them to easily stalk their prey. 

After quite a track through the muddy forest, man, woman and dog surveyed their quarry form behind a lichen covered boulder. Gyousou peered around the boulder. Just beyond the boulder the forest gave way to a clearing where a heard of deer nervously grazed on moss and scraggily tufts of grass. They seemed particularly on edge as they scanned their surroundings, their ears and heads in constant motion, their tails twitching. The heard looked like they were going to bolt at any moment.  
"We're down wind right?" He asked turning to Chunghua. He held her bow arrow healed poised.  
"Yeah," Chunghua replied distractedly. "Something has them spooked.” She narrowed her eyes and peered at the far side of the clearing.  
"I don't think they’ve caught wind of us, and Fang's tense too." She Absently reached out to stroke the dog. The dog had his ears up and growled nervously in the direction of the deer, sitting up from where he’d been laying between the two of them.  
"There's something else out there." She said absently. 

"Wolves maybe?" He offered quietly and he crouched beside her. He pondred for a moment. He had been experimenting with his new found ability to “feel” his surroundings but he’d never done it while he was outside hunting with Chunghua.  
"Here."he said as he handed the bow and arrow to Chung. Then he sat down cross-legged hands resting on his legs.

"What are you doing?" She hissed.  
"I'm checking something, it would take too long to explain." he answered. In truth he wasn't sure how to explain what he was about to do, even to himself, and if he did find a way to explain she probably wouldn't believe him. 

He closed his eyes and reached out with his mental “hands”. He carefully felt around the clearing at first he found nothing out of the ordinary, just the anxious deer and some small animals in the grass and fallen leaves. He stretched his perception out further to the far side of the clearing. Through his own experimentation he'd found that this sense or whatever it was, was limited by distance. The far side of the clearing was near the edge of his range. 

Something moved in the underbrush. No, there were a lot of somethings. They were steadily stalking forward on all fours. They moved like wolves and from what he could feel they had the same general shape, only they were bigger. 

He gasped and opened his eyes as he realized what they were. Chung was still crouching beside him, staring at him dubiously.

"We have to leave right now!" He said urgently as he grabbed her by the wrist and got to his feet pulling her up with him. 

"What? Why, what’s out there?” She was extremely confused. She just didn't understand what he'd done or why he suddenly close to panicking. 

"There's no time! I'll answer your question later, I promise. But we have to leave right now before they attack!" 

  
Suddenly a chorus of high pitched wailing ripped through the air. The sound was like the cries of babies combined with the howling of coyotes. 

Chungs blue eyes suddenly lit up with alarm. She knew what that sound meant, anyone who’d hunted in the mountains of Tai knew what that sound meant. Fang was on his feet his with teeth bared in a snarl as he faced the cries comping from the opposite side of the clearing. 

Those were the hunting cries of a species of yoma called Kiki. They were like great black wolves with crystalline eyes. They weren't one of the types that could fly without wings but they were incredibly fast over land and always hunted in packs. 

The two locked eyes in a moment of shared terror. Then they both turned to see a mass of lean black canine bodies rush out of the shadows of the undergrowth and tair into the closest few deer. The rest of the heard panicked, uncertain where to run to as the pack ran circles around them. All of a sudden, the kiki left the deer an opening and the heard bolted toward where Chung and Gyousou stood. 

With out saying a word, man, woman, and dog ran for their lives.

The deer were stampeding and would soon overtake them, and then the Kiki would be in top of them. Form with he'd "felt" when he'd extended his senses the pack numbered about thirty or forty, far too many for them to have a prayer against . As it was he wasn't even sure they could out run them and make it back to the relative safety of Chung’s house. 

The last time Gyousou had faced this type of yoma he'd been in command of an extermination task force consisting of a division of archers and two squadrons of lancers form the royal army of the left with him. The weapons carried by that force had been tokijen, enchanted weapons, meat to slay yoma creatures. 

Yoma were extremely resilient supernatural creatures, their wounds wound heal almost immediately unless they were injured with a tokijin weapon. All they had to work with was a bow, a quiver full of arrows, a spear and a knife, none of these weapons bore the necessary enchantments that would keep the yoma’s wounds for healing. They could kill a Kiki with a well-placed hit to a vital region that would kill the monster before it’s woulds could heal, but that wold be extremely difficult.

Fang kept pace at his side. He looked to Chunghua who was running beside him. She was much lighter on her feet and could easily out distance him. In all their practices she'd proven just how fast she really was. 

She looked back at him with her ice blue eyes. The determined look she gave him said that she knew what he was thinking, but she refused to sprint ahead and leave him for the Kiki. 

A stag ran past him, followed by a pair of does. The cries of the Kiki were getting closer. 

Chung bolted over a fallen log. As Gyousou followed one of the Kiki let out an ear piercing howl. Gyousou glanced back to gauge the distance between them and the pack. 

Over his shoulder he saw the lead Kiki rushing toward them. Its inky black fur glistened in the scattered light that filtered though the bare tree branches above. 

His foot slipped on the mossy surface of the log and he fell forward. He landed on his belly, only barely able to get his ands out in front of his face in time to prevent his head from hitting the ground. 

Fang barked urgently as he bounded beside him. The dog sniffed and licked him frantically, as if urging him to get back up.

He looked up to search for Chunghua. Chung was some thirty feet ahead of him, her bright orange hair sown against the gray and green of the forest around her and she ran. She stopped and wiped around sensing that he and Fang were no longer behind her. 

He was too far behind. He’d seen how close the lead Kiki was, he knew he only had seconds before it would be on top of him. Shortly after that the rest of the pack would arrive. He was unarmed and wouldn't stand a chance once they swarmed him. 

Her eyes widened with the realization that he was about to be swarmed by blood thirsty Yoma. Reflexively she planted her feet , brought up her bow and cocked an arrow to it. 

“No! Forget me keep going!” He shouted at her as he tried to bat Fang away. The dog still had a chance to out run the Kiki, but the stubborn animal was staying beside him. 

Unlike normal predators Yoma didn't kill out of necessity, they were sentient beings that killed simply for pleasure. Humans were their favorite pray by far simply because they particularly enjoyed the terror they could inflict upon an intelligent being before devouring them. That was why the Kiki had made the deer stampede toward them. 

He pushed himself to his knees and turned in time to see the lead Kiki spring over the log. Its crystalline eyes gleamed with malicious joy. 

The massive canine’s muzzle was drenched in the blood of its last kill. Saliva trailed form its open mouth in long stringy tendrils. It’s teeth gleamed in the sunlight and it’s lips pealed back in what could only be called a predatory smile as it landed on top of Gyousou. 

An arrow struck the beast’s shoulder before it could sink its fangs in to Gyousou. The kiki glared up at Chung. The arrow in its shoulder was only an annoyance instead of causing any real damage. the Kiki beard its fangs at Chung in a smug predatory smile as she readied another arrow. 

Suddenly a shaggy brown missile plowed in to its neck, knocking it off of Gyousou. Fang let out a loud defiant snarl as he bit down on the larger creature’s jugular. The Kiki screamed in rage and pain as it shook the dog off. 

Fang hit a nearby tree with a resounding thud. The Kiki lunged after the stunned dog. 

Gyousou was filled with desperation and blinding rage. Even if it was futile, he had to try to defend Chunghua and Fang. He couldn't just sit her and watch them get torn apart by Yoma as they tried to protect him. Still on his hands and knees he groped desperately at the ground for something to use as a weapon. 

He found a fist sized rock and staggered upright intending to throw it at the monster for all the good it would do. 

A bolt of fire came out of nowhere imbedding itself in the kiki’s eye. Blood and viscera came boiling out of the monsters eye socket. The kiki staggered forward for a moment, then collapsed without so much as a whimper. He stared at the brightly burning arrow shaft as the fur and blood around it bubbled and blackened. The arrow was buried so deep in the creatures head that there was barely any thing visible below the fletching, the crow feather fletching. 

Before Gyousou could digest what just happened, a second kiki leaped out of the underbrush and clamped its jaws around fangs hind leg. It cackled like a hyena as it shook its head from side to side, whipping Fang around like a toy as the dog yipped pitifully.

Another flaming arrow struck this kiki in the chest setting its filthy matted fur on fire like a mass of oily rags. It let go of Fang as its jaws opens wide in a scream of pure agony. 

Fang hit the ground and wimped as he dragged himself away from the dyeing monster. 

Chunghua was suddenly kneeling beside Gyousou with her bow in her hand. 

"Up, Now!" she commanded as she grabbed his arm with her left hand and pulled him up with her. 

He looked up as she haled him to his feet. His confusion threatened to overwhelm him as he realized that her rough Bun province accent was gone. She was now speaking with amore fluid Zui province accent much like his own. 

"Are you hurt?" She demanded, still speaking with a Zui accent.

He shook his head looking straight in to her bright blue eyes. There were several questions in the forefront of his mind, but now was hardly the time to start demanding answers. 

She pulled him over behind the long. 

She turned and drew another arrow from her quiver. Her movements were so fast that he wasn’t quite able to make out what she did. But, when she released the arrow from the bow the entire shaft burst in to flame. The arrow hit another Kiki in the eye. The kiki’s momentum carried it forward as it collapsed. Two other kiki that had been coming up behind were tangled in the dead kikis limbs and tripped over their dead pack mate. 

This bought them a few seconds. She turned back to him. 

"Take the spear!" She said as she shrugged of the weapons shoulder strap. He took it wordlessly. 

She turned back to the battle at hand. "Get Fang, I'll cover you." 

The rest of the pack paused and howled with blood lust.

“Alright!” He replied. 

He sprinted out of the cover of the log over to where fang lay. A kiki sprang for him as he ran. It’s fur burst in to flame as Chung’s arrow sunk in to its neck. The monster fell back and thrashed, screaming in pain. 

Gyousou tried to ignore the screams as he bent over the dog. 

“Its okay boy.” He said as he gently stroked Fang’s head and back. Fang looked up at him hopefully with his big golden eyes. 

From what Gyousou could tell, Fang’s leg was bleeding, but he didn’t seem to have any broken bones. Fang stood up tentatively but whimpered when he put weight on his injured hind leg. Fang looked at him sadly and waged his tail pitifully. Gyousou realized that Fang wasn’t going to be able to run on that leg. 

"It's still coming!" Chung shouted. The kiki she’d shot in the neck had snuffed the flames out by rolling on the ground. The rest of the pack was hanging back and watching as the burned kiki stood back up. The matted remains of its charred fur, mud and blood clung around its neck and face. 

It howled and came charging at Gyousou. There was no time to think. He swept around and brought the spear up, gripping it in both hands and thrust it up in to the chest of the burnt kiki. 

It was a light weight weapon more like a javelin rather that and infantry mans lance but it did the job. He felt the blade penetrate the monster’s rib cage and skewer its heart. He pulled the spear free. Blood gushed out of the kiki’s chest as The kiki’s still beating heart pumped wildly. It fell to the ground with a look of shock on its canine face. It’s supernatural healing was not enough to save it from bleeding to death. 

Gyousou stooped and shrugged the dogs bulk on to his shoulders. He paused briefly to pick up the spear. “I have Fang lets go!” He called to Chung. 

“Go. I’ll be right behind you!” She called back as she loosed another arrow at the kiki. 

Chung continued firing arrows behind them as they ran. Neither of them said a word to each other using all their energy to flee instead. 

The house came in to sight ahead. True, the previous owners were killed by Yoma. However, they had been unable to get in side the house before the Yoma had been on them. Chung and her mother had found their bodies just in front of the house. Houses built here in the north were built to withstand all sorts of punishment. This house was no different. The walls and door were made by nailing thick logs together making them roughly one foot thick. The thatched roof was supported by a cage like scaffolding of hard ironwood beams. There were signs that the house had weathered earlier yoma attacks with out tragedy. They'd be fine if only they could make it inside before the kiki caught up with them. 

"Keep going!" Chung shouted as she stopped at the edge of the clearing and turned to face the oncoming pack with another arrow at the ready. 

Gyousou continued sprinting for the door. He didn't look back as he heard another kiki's death screams.   
  
He shoved the door open, paused only long enough to gently lay the dog on the reed mats and went right back out spear in hand. 

"Chunghua!" He called as he reached the door.

He froze in the doorway shocked in to immobility by the scene before him. A massive kiki towered over Chunghua. It was twice the size of the others and completely engulfed in flames; he counted five arrow shafts imbedded in its hide. 

From where he stood he could see still more Kiki standing back and watching from the woods, cackling with their tongs lolling as they watched hungrily.

The beasts bared teeth glittered white against ti’s blackening skin. The thing roared as flames rippled over its form. Then the monster tottered on its paws and fell over as the fire consumed it. The kiki who’d stayd back to lurk in the underbrush went wild cackling and howling like they had all gone rabid. 

This broke Gyousou out of his stunned paralysis. 

"Chunghua! Get in here!" He shouted again. 

She turned to look at him, she seemed surprised that he was calling to her as a comrade and friend after seeing what she’d just done. The woman seemed to hesitate for a moment. Then, bow in hand, she started sprinting for the house with every thing she had. 

One Kiki broke form cover and pounced on her wile her back was turned. 

He watched horrified as time slowed down. Sensing the oncoming monster Chung twirled on her heel to face it. Gyousou thought of all the times she’d executed that maneuver when she'd been fencing with him. But he knew her excellent foot work wasn’t going to be enough to save her. 

Her back hit the ground as the Kiki landed on her. Gyousou was already in motion running toward her with the spear at the ready. He ran as fast as he could but knew it wasn't fast enough to get to her in time. 

He watched the kiki's open jaws descended toward his friend’s face. Chunghua ducked her head beneath the kiki’s chin as its mouth snapped shut. 

"Get off of me you asshole!" Chunghua screamed in pure rage. She thrust her hands up at the monsters chest, as geysers of flame burst from her palms.

Suddenly the kiki's enter midsection erupted in to flame. A shockwave of hot air slammed into him. When he looked up smoke was coming out of the kiki's mouth. He could see blackened ribs againts the raging fire inside its shredded chest. Was the thing even still alive? Chung tucked her knees up and savagely kicked the immolated monster corpse off of her. 

He acted with out thinking. Before he realized what he was doing he was beside her helping her up and hauling her to the house. At some point she had picked up her bow again. Suddenly they were inside and he was slamming one of two heavy wooden beams in to brackets that would hold it across the door. Chunghua followed with the second beam that was below the first. 

The first kiki slammed in to the door. 

Both man and woman braced their shoulders against it. There was a second impact right after the first and the sound of hungry scrabbling at the crack beneath the door. 

The kiki were also snuffling and digging on the thatched roof above them. More of the kiki’s unearthly cries filled their ears. They howled in frustration, screaming like the souls of the dammed. 

Chunghua suddenly bolted away form the door and flung aside the reed mats covering a corner of the cabin. She reached in to a depression that had been concealed beneath them and pulled out a cylindrical object. 

“Here!” She yelled as she tossed it to him. 

He caught it effortlessly and instantly recognized the object for what it was. 

“Why do you have a sword?” He demanded. 

The sound of tearing claws and splintering wood brought him back to the situation at hand. He looked down to see a kiki’s paw reaching out from beneath the door. Gyousou viciously brought his boot heel down on the creatures paw. As he ground his heel down he was rewarded with screams of agony from the opposite side of the door.

“That’s your first question after you saw me set fire to –” she cut herself off and shook her head. “Never mind!” she continued resolutely. “It's a tokijin, an enchanted blade.” She said by way of explanation as she grabbed the end of the black lacquered scabbard. 

As he watched she unsheathed a simple knife that had been concealed in the scabbard’s base. He idly wondered what sort of person concealed a secondary weapon like that. Then she bent over the depression once more and pulled a second, wickedly sharp but oddly ornate dagger. Se quickly unsheathed it and held both daggers at her sides. The spear lay discarded on the floor; clearly the long shaft made it a cumbersome weapon in the closed confines of the small house. Her bow was quickly sheathed in the quiver on her back, it too was ill suited to close combat.  
  
Thus armed with the two blades she stood up beside him and looked him in the face. She was tall enough that they were nearly at eye level with one another. Her blue eyes blazed with defiance. 

“Just use that sword to kill those things and I’ll explain every thing when this is over! Is that acceptable, lieutenant?” she asks acidly.  
  
There was a stitch in his side, he felt weary and out of breath already, and it was only going to get worse. He couldn’t afford to argue with her right now.

He unsheathed the sword from its black lacquered scabbard. It has a single edge, and was slightly curved with its cutting edge abruptly bending into a curved point. This tip had a shape like the sleek prow of an ocean going ship, ending in a fine point. The sword was much lighter than he was used to, but if it was a tokijin it would suffice.   


He abruptly turned away and took his foot off the protruding paw of the Kiki that had been trying to dig under the door. He slashed the limb off in one fluid movement before the kiki could pull its paw away. The sword cut neatly threw the bone without any resistance. The Severed paw was left twitching on the floor, as its owner screamed outside. 

“Fine! We’ll talk once this is over, and I expect a full explanation.” He said as he looked back at her over his shoulder. 

“You’ll get one if we live through this!” she agreed as she eyed the thatched ceilig over head. 

The first kiki shoved its head threw the roof and snarled down at them. 

“Back to back!” Gyousou commanded. 

She put her back against his, her daggers held at the ready. 

What followed was a complete bluer of stabbing and slashing. Kiki tried forcing their way through the wooden beams of roof. A few tried tunneling under the door and the heavy log walls. At one point the Kiki were able to ram the door in, but even then their sheer size meant they could only com in to the house one at a time. Through out it all both the man and woman stood resolutely protecting each other and the whimpering dog that lay curled at their feet.   
  
Limbs and heads were hacked and dismembered as Gyousou wielded the sword in graceful arcs and stabbed forward with deadly accuracy. The woman he’d known as Chunghua may have had a disadvantage in range with her daggers, but she expertly thrust then in to the oncoming kiki’s skulls, throats and eye sockets, slashing tender muscles and vital arteries. Her arms were a bluer like two dueling snakes, impossible to catch and deadly to get close to. Bodies began to pile around their feet. 

()()()())()()()()()())

The noonday sun shown down threw the gaping holes in the roof. 

The demented cries of the kiki became more distant as they retreated. Only then did she allow herself to relax. Her arms dropped to her sides, still clutching her tokijin daggers. And then she glanced over her shoulder at Sokka. 

He stood facing the door with his back turned toward her. His shoulders shuddered as he panted heavily. 

She shut her eyes and grimaced inwardly. He’d seen her use her powers. Heaven only knew what he was thinking right now. 

It had been hammered in to her from an early age that if anyone outside the family learned about her powers they would react with hostility, fear, and might even try to kill her. That was simply how normal people reacted to the strange and different. In her case not only was she strange and different but her powers also happened to be legitimately dangerous. 

Sokka slowly turned to face her. His clothing was drenched with Kiki gore, dark splatters had been sprayed across his face, chest and sleeves. He loomed menacingly, silhouetted by the light form the ruined door frame as he held her blood stained sword in his hand. But the look on his face wasn't one of disgust or fear, he simply looked exhausted. His eyes were unfocused. Sweat glistened on his his forehead and ran down his face and rivulets. 

He lurched to one side then hunched forward and fell to his knees coughing and wheezing. He kept his right hand on her sword as he drove it in to the floor and let out a loud moan as he gripped at his side with is free hand. 

()()()()()()()()()()()() 

Spots danced in his field of vision as he struggled to slow his breathing and heart rate. His lungs couldn’t expand fast enough as he gasped for air like a drowning man. He felt light headed and the world became fuzzy and seemed to be swaying madly around him. He tasted bile in the back of his throught as he was seized by another coughing fit. 

He’d exerted his recovering body past its point of endurance and now he was paying the price for it. He’d pushed himself harder and harder during the battle, knowing that if he slowed down even for a moment it wouldn’t just cost him his life but Chunghua’s and Fangs as well. Furthermore he refused to die without hearing an explanation of Chung’s unusual abilities. 

He was out of breath and his lungs were burning from the abuse. His shoulders shuttered as he panted, desperately trying to take in more air. He’d already been winded from outrunning the kiki wile caring Fang to the house. It had taken every bit of his stamina to reman upright during the fight. The cramp in his side had been getting steadily worse as the battle had continued for what seemed like hours. Now it felt like someone was twisting a white hot knife in to his side. 

Chunghua dropped to her knees beside him. She said something but he couldn’t hear her over the sound of his heart pounding. 

He guessed that she was asking him if he was hurt. 

“I’m fine.” He managed to say between gasps. He moved his hand off of his side so she could see that he wasn’t injured. 

“It’s just a cramp. I overdid it, just give me a moment to catch my breath.” He panted. 

He closed his eyes, remembering the techniques he’d been taught as a boy. He’d grown up among the rolling cataracts and headwaters of the river lands in Ai province. His father had taught him how to swim shortly after he’d learned to walk. Swimming was a survival skill in a region known for savage and unpredictable flooding. Learning how to control his breathing was an essential part of that long ago training. 

Gradually he was able to slow his breathing. The sharp pain in his side faded and was replaced by the dull ache of a thousand other muscles. The dizziness faded and he sat up. 

He turned to face her and cleared his throat. “You owe me some answers.” He said simply.

())()()()()()()()()()(  
She watched as he sheathed her sword, and set it beside him. He suddenly seemed annoyed, like a school master scolding an unruly student. If he had been frighted when he’d seen her use her powers earlier, he certainly wasn't showing it. Then again, she’d learned that he was very good at presenting an emotionless front from all the times she’d sparred with him. What exactly was going on behind those red eyes of his. 

She blinked and stared at him in astonishment.

“You’re not….?' She trailed off, as she tried to collect her thoughts. “Your not afraid of me. ” she said in confusion. 

It was a statement not a question. 

“Scared?” He arched an eyebrow at her and looked at her like she’d just said the sky was green. 

“I’m not happy that you kept things form me.” He said as he folded his arms across his chest. “But I AM curious as to how you set your arrows on fire and how you burned that kiki with nothing but your bare hands. ” 

He looked at her pointedly. “You promised you would provide explanations if we survived. Seeing that we are both among the living I’d like you to tell me everything.”

“Also,” he added as he frowned and cocked his head to one side,“who are you exactly? Is Chunghua even your real name?” 

She swallowed nervously. “No, Chunghua was my mother’s name.” 

Just because she didn’t feel any hostility from him didn’t mean she could let her guard down, there was no telling what he might do. This was unfamiliar territory; it was best to feel it out slowly. She drew herself up with as much dignity as she could muster, making sure to calmly meet his gaze with her own.

“I’m Touda Hongyu, ” she stated coolly. She watched as his eyes widened. “Your Touda Enju’s daughter!?” He gasped. 

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Next Chapter- The Nobleman's Daughter


	9. The Nobleman’s Daughter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which our hero gives advice about baby names, somebody is obviously not a witch, explanations are provided and the truth comes out.

The Nobleman’s Daughter 

22- years ago from the present-  
Army of the Left operational head quarters Saku county Zui province. Lord generals office. 

The afternoon light tinted everything in the office a golden color. 

Saku Gyousou, Count of Saku County and the Lord General of the army of the left stood gazing out his office window.  
He was wearing the simple foliage green silk robe that served as his uniform of office. It was trimmed with black and gold fabric at the hem of his sleeves and collar. The Kirin insignia that denoted his rank of Lord General was embroidered in black and gold thread on his shoulders, as well as across his back and chest. His white hair was tied back loosely at the nape of his neck, rather than a formal top knot. In the golden afternoon light his hair shown like platinum. 

To his right there was a book shelf full of volumes on tactics, military history, bestiaries, biographies and maps as well as various awards and memorabilia he’d accumulated over his long career. His large wooden desk was directly behind him . It was made of a vary dark, almost black wood and stood in the middle of the office like a rectangular alter. It’s surface was uncluttered, there was a neat stack of files to either side of the area immediately in front of his chair. A pot of brushes stood to one side, along with his stamp of office, and an ink basin. 

Gyousou watched as the airel reconnaissance devision’s new recruits came filing in to the parade grounds after completing the first phase of their training. 

The recruits had been deployed at various locations in the rolling country side of Saku county with a heavy pack containing only essential gear and minimal rations. They were told to make there way to a set rendezvous point some forty miles away before the end of three weeks. The first phase of training was designed to push to recruits both mentally and physically. After three weeks in the field the recruits were filthy, tired and half starved as they shambled in to the parade grounds. 

“How disappointing,” thought the lord general. “If only this batch was as capable as the last.”

“Sir?” Ganchou, said quietly; subtly calling his general’s attention to the meeting at hand. 

Ganchou was the Army of the Left’s Chief of staff, he was Gyousou’s second in command. His lion insignia was embroidered on his green tunic in gold thread. Ganchou stood to the Lord General’s left with his large muscular arms crossed over the lion insignia on his chest. 

Gyousou’s voluminous sleeves fluttered slightly as he clasped his hands behind his back. “Your thoughts, Major?” He inquired without turning around. 

“Honestly sir, a third of the recruits washed out during first phase of training.” Major Touda Enju said bluntly. He sighed, “And I expect that only about a third of those remaining will pass the training this year.” 

Enju stood respectfully at attention before Lord General’s desk. Despite the dirt on his black armor the brass bear insignia stood out against his black pauldron and breastplate. His bright red hair was windblown and coming loose from his topknot. 

Colonel Gashin, and Colonel Eishou stood further back. Their higher rank was denoted by the silver panther insignia emblazoned on their armor. Like Enju their black armor was caked with road dust as all three had spent most of the day in the saddle. However, the colonels had had the presence of mind to make an effort to polish their armor before coming in to this meeting. Neither of them seemed surprised that the lord general had called on the lowly major to give his opinions on the recruits first. He knew that Enju would have spent more time interacting directly with the recruits, where as the Colonels would have been observing from afar or discussed the recruits with the lower ranking officers who were administering the training. 

Colonel Gashin smirked, unable to keep the amusement off his face, while Colonel Eieshou had a marshaled and very neutral expression to keep the absolute disappointment off of his face.

“It’s a distasteful prospect, but from what we observed I think the Major is correct in his assessment.” Drawled Colonel Eishou. “I would also add that we should review the recruit’s combat test scores, as some might be...exaggerated.”

Chief of staff Ganchou cleared his throat.

The second in command of the army of the left was a massive man, heavily muscled, with broad shoulders and thick limbs. Even his broad tanned face, and square jaw looked like it had been chiseled out of stone. At seven feet tall, he was easily the tallest person in the room. He was also rumored to be the oldest person in the Army of the Left, his physical age was somewhere in his mid forties or early fifties. A few stray streaks of silver stood out against his dark brown hair, which was pulled back in a severe topknot. As of his chronological age, he had held his current rank for so long that no one present could say. It was known that he was at least thirty or more years older than Gyousou. Ganchou had already been a Lieutenant General when he’d taken Gyousou under his wing when he’d started his career in the Army of the Left. 

“Why are you predicting a high failure rate with this years recruits.” Ganchou asked Enju curiously. 

Enju sighed and shrugged helplessly. “Sorry to say but a lot of the new bloods are just spoiled kids form noble families who don’t have the smarts or drive to make it in the recon core. They probably applied for the training thinking of the prestige. ” 

“Oh? And what gave you that impression Major?” Ganchou enquired.

“Well, first and foremost, phase one evaluates the recruits self motivation and..... During phase one it is standard procedure for the instructors, and other authority figures, to be largely absent.” Enju explained. “We don’t provide the recruits with encouragement and don’t punish them for doing stupid shit either. Basically our job is just to watch them and see how they behaved when left to their own devices.”

“Yes? I’m aware of this.”Ganchou nodded. 

“Well......” Enju said hesitantly. “When the recruits realized they were’t being supervised.... “ Enju began hesitantly. “A lot of recruits just phapped off!” Enju said disgustedly, “I apologize for my language, sir.” He added meekly. 

Gashin began to chuckle. Eishou sighed and gave Gshin a disapproving look. Sudnlty Gashin had a coughing fit that sounded a lot like stifled laughter.

“It’s fine.” Ganchou assured Enju. “Continue with your report, Major.” 

“Well,” Enju continued. “A discouraging number of recruits failed to arrive at the rondeau point altogether. Apparently they expected SOMEONE to guide them there!” 

“The privileged tend to act irresponsibly and expect someone else to take care of all their problems”, Eishou said coldly. 

“Yeah.” Enju sighed. “Take their three-week ration allotment for example: When they were given their supplies and explicitly told that their rations would have to last them for the entire three week period. Well, despite that half of the recruits ate and drank all their rations within eight days, and they honestly expected that they’d be given more.” 

Gashin chuckled. “Lets just say, they were really disappointed when they found out they weren’t getting more rations.” 

Eishou snorted “Short sighted gluttons, rather like a certain cornel I could name.”

“Who, me?” Gashin asked in surprise. “Please Eishou, I learned my lesson in self-control back in basic.” Remarked Gashin, “Nothing like the humbling experience of a forced march on half-rations to put discipline in your stomach.” His expression fell a bit then. “I’m more worried about their directional sense or lack there of.”

“Yeah,” Enju nodded. “I had to back-track on several occasions to find nearly two whole lost squads,” he remarked. “I must admit it takes real effort to get lost along a standard training trail that parallels a Gods-blessed provincial highway.”

“And then there’s the matter of attention to detail.” Eishou offered . “ Ideal candidates for the recon core are able to remember details of their travels despite being tired, hungry and miserable. I’d say this group was one of the least observant we've had in years.” 

“If they can’t pay attention to their surroundings they’re useless as recon operatives and aren’t even fit to serve as scouts!” Enju said disgustedly. “I asked one recruit how many supports a bridge had. And he just looked at me blankly and sputtered. And keep in mind, he’d just walked over the dammed bridge. This wasn’t the only example of recruit failing to use basic observational skills but it was the most memorable example of this kind of incompetence.”

“Hmm...” interjected Colonel Gashin. “Seems that a lot of noble families have gotten it in to their heads that the recon division is a good place for their idle youngsters.” He said with a smirk. 

Eishou turned his eyes heavenward and made a “harrumph” sound. 

Gyouso smirked at this exchange. Eishou had the dry wit of a thousand year drought, while Gashin had an eternally youthful easy going sense of humor. Having both of them in the same room always made staff meetings interesting.

The two Colonels were opposites both in complexion and personality. Eishou was outwardly haughty and stoic while Gashin was even tempered and jovial. Eishou had pail dusty brown hair that was always bound in the tight top knot. Gashin had black hair the he wore in a loos ponytail. Eishou was fair skinned with dark brown eyes, wile Gashin had a dusky complexion and had pail silvery green eyes. 

The two men worked well together professionally, and were fends out side of work. Gashin enjoyed teasing his more stoic comrade occasionally but was always serious when it came time to do actual work. They had known each other sense attending classes at the military academy. They both were physically in their late twenties, around the asme age as Enju. But chronologically Eishou and Gashin were closer to forty.

Gashin gave Eishou a playful smile. “Personally I blame our success with Major Touda for this influx of noble brats.” He said teasingly. “The other noble families are hoping that their prodigal sons and daughters will become fine officers just like how the Major turned out.” 

Eishou snorted. “‘Our?’ I think the blame can be squarely placed at YOUR feet.” Eishou said smugly. “ The first battalion is under your command. You are Major Enju’s direct superior.” 

Ganchou chuckled. Enju laughed a bit as well, but straitened up quickly remembering that he was still giving an official report. 

“In any case there are a few promising individuals in the group. I’ve taken the liberty of compiling a list of likely candidates who show some competence. ”

“I’ve reviewed the Major’s list and from what I’ve seen I agree with recommendations regarding likely candidates.” Gashin offered.

Gyousou continued staring out his office window ant the cadets in the parade grounds, “I see.” he said distantly. “Perhaps its for the best.”

A look of concern briefly flickered over Ganchou’s normally impassive face. 

Enju looked over his shoulder at Colonel Gashin. 

Gashin shrugged at him open palmed. 

Eishou diplomatically cleared his through before asking, “Sir, has something happened?”

Ganchou sighed and unfolded his arms. The huge man’s shoulders slumped as he turned toward the Lord General. “Do you want to tell them or should I, sir?” 

“No, its fine,” Gyousou said waving his hand dismissively as he turned form the window. He remained standing as he faced his subordinates. “there was an incident in the capital while you were out with the recruits .” 

“What happened?” Gashin asked incredulously. 

“Form what we can tell a cowed of unemployed laborers tried to storm a granary in the warehouse district. A riot ensued and the city guard was called.” 

Ganchou added. “ This wasn’t unexpected. There have been food shortages, what with the bad harvests we’ve been having for the past two years.” 

there was a pensive silence in the room. Every one knew that the sovereign of Tai was neglecting his duties more and more, and thy all knew that the sovereigns reign was probably in it’s twilight years, but no one wanted to say it out loud. 

“Were there casualties?” Gashin asked. 

Gyousou sighed. “ Yes, quite a few. Form what we can tell all the casualties were civilians. The city guard panicked when the crowd started throwing rocks. a few of them fought back with their shields then some idiot started shooting cross bow bolts in to the crowd.” Gyousou sat down behind his desk and rubbed at his temples. “ The official casualty report is being compiled as we speak. ” 

“We were asked to send a unit to help disperse the rioters.” Ganchou said. “We just finished debriefing the officer in charge before you got back for the field. From what he told us, it was a complete mess.” 

“I’m thinking of introducing a new training regimen to deal with this type of crowd control scenario.” Gyousou continued as he rested his hands on his steepled fingers. “We are likely to have more sparse harvests in the future and there will likely lead to more civilians rioting over the food shortages. I don’t know about you but I’d just assume do something to prevent tragedies like this.” 

“Understood sir.” Eishou said with a respectful bow. “please let us know if you need any assistance developing the new regimen.” 

“Yes, of course!” Gashin added quickly as he bowed as well. 

Gyousou sighed, unsteepled his fingers and rested his hands on his armrests. “I’ll look over you’r recommendations and beside which candidates to pass on to the next phase of training by tomorrow.”

“Yes sir, of course.” Enju replied as he set his report on the desk. 

“No, I’ll take care of that sir.” Ganchou said as he picked the report off the desk.

Gyousou raised an eyebrow at his chief of staff. “Really?” He asked. 

“Bah, this sort of busy work is what a Chief of staff is for!” Ganchou said reassuringly. “Besides,” he continued, “The Major has another matter he’d like to bring to your attention.” He favored Enju with a conspiratorial smile. 

“I do?” Enju said confusedly. Then a light went on behind his dark cobalt eyes. “Oh, yes! I do!” he said happily. 

Gashin snikkerd. Eishou rolled his eyes heaven word agin. 

If any thing Gyousou’s eyebrow went up even further. “alright then. Well , if that’s all this meeting is concluded. You r all free to go”, he said with a dismissive hand wave. 

Gashin and Ganchou were openly grinning as they filed out of the office, and a very faint smile even tugged at the corners of Eishou’s stoic face. 

“You have a moment Sir?” Enju asked sheepishly as the door shut. 

“I suppose. ” Gyousou said with a sigh. “Pull up a seat.” 

Enju pulled over a chair and set it facing Gyousou’s desk. “Well sir, Chunghua and I are expecting a baby.” He said with the biggest Smile Gyousou had ever seem. 

Gyousou sat up, “You are?”

Enju continued to grin like a fool. his teeth seemed blindingly white against his dark brown face. “Yup, we went to the Yabokus shrine the other day and the caretakers told us we’d be able to take our ranka home in a few months.” 

Gyousou couldn’t help but grin back at Enju from across the desk. “This is wonderful news. Congratulations!”  
Then Gyousou paused, and rubbed at his face. “I’m the last to find out about this aren’t I?” 

“Well, you’ve been busy, sir.” Enju said helplessly. “and I only told Ganchou bout it this morning.” 

“Fair enough.” Gyousou said with a shrug as the smile returned to his face. “Have you started thinking about names for you r baby?” he asked. 

“Well boss, Chunghua and I have been going back and forth of baby names. But personally I’d like to name the baby after you.” 

“what?” Gyousou said with a start. “I’m flattered but, what if you have a daughter?” 

“I don’t know,” Enju said with a shrug, “‘Gyousou’ would work for a girl too, don’t you think?”

Gyousou raised an eyebrow, as he regarded the younger man dubiously, “No,” he said flatly, “ ‘Strong Essence’ is a terrible name for a girl. It’s far too masculine! With a name like thit potential suitors will think she’s some sort of ogre.”

“Oh, I hadn’t thought about that.” 

“No I don’t suppose you had.” He coked his head to one side. “Have you talked about this with your wife?” 

“Well no. I though I would bounce it off of you first.” Enju said a bit embarrassedly. 

“I’m glad you did, she’d probably have given you an earful if you had.” 

Gyousou got up and walked over to the book shelf. “Lately I’ve been reading the memoirs of a former Lady General of the Left by the name of Song Hongyu. She was a brilliant tactician who developed many of the long distance drum signals we use today. Ah, here it is!” He pulled a very old book out of the shelf and turned back to Enju. “I think Hongyu is a much better girl’s name than ‘Gyousou’.” He sat back down behind at his desk and pointed to the kanji for ‘Hongyu’ on the cover. “ If you have a daughter and want to name the baby after a general of the left, I’d recommend naming her Hongyu.” 

Enju examined the kanji that made up the Lady general’s name and, looked thoughtful as he sounded out the name. “‘Red Jade’. I like it. Its feminine and strong!”

“Are you hopping its a boy?” Gyousou asked. 

“Well maybe, I don’t know. I know more about raising a boy than I do about raising a girl. But I really don't care if my child is a boy or girl. Whatever our child is I really can’t wait to meet them. “

Gyosou smiled. He felt jealous watching Enju grin like a fool. The younger man seemed positively giddy at the prospect of fatherhood.

()()()()()()()()()()

“I’m Touda Hongyu, ” she stated coolly.

His eyes widened.“Your Touda Enju’s daughter?” He gasped. His red eyes darted up and down her form. When one prayed to Tentei for a child it was generally understood that the child's coloring and features would not necessarily reflect those of their parents. But he couldn’t help but look for some trace of Enju in this young woman before him. 

His eyes darted to her Yuan stile Bow. Enju had favored that design as it was compact and easy for a stocky man like him to use. She had said that her father was in the Army of the Left, that he was a mounted archer, and that he had retired form the service when she was little. She used Viper Sparrow style, the same style that Enju used. 

Tentie above! She’d even said her mother had been a doctor and quoted the recon division’s unofficial motto.

Gyousou gradually felt the world around him become settled again and return to something approaching normality. Chunghua was Touda Hongyu.

“I should had figured out who she was long before now.” he thought. “She even used her mother’s name as her alias.” Although, in his defense Chunghua was the most common girls name in Bun province. 

She’d only been a few months old the last time he’s seen her. Her hair had only been pale downy peach fuzz; completely unrecognizable from the long radiant orange tresses she was sporting now. Her face had been round and pudgy, completely lacking the narrow angular features she had now. 

“Wait! You knew my father?!” It was her turn to be shocked. 

He smiled “We served in the army together. We were also in the same unit for a time. He was one of my best friends.” 

“If you knew my father so well, then what was his birth name?” She demanded.  
“Shuang.” He replied without hesitation. “Though no one called him by that name wile he was in the army. He received the courtesy name ‘Enju’ some time after he joined the recon division. ” 

“By Tentei!” she said as she backed up and regarded him with amazement. 

Gyousou huffed. “By Tentei indeed. I had been hoping to see him again, but never expected Enju’s daughter to come to my rescue. Let alone have such....ah....talents.”

She blinked slowly a few times as he gathered his breath. There was much to think about, and the ebbing adrenaline wasn’t helping. So, both took another moment to ruminate. Gyousou on his chaotic luck. Hongyu on a man who both knew her father and did not care about her odd abilities. 

After many heartbeats Gyousou tried to pick the conversation back up. “Do you know where your father is now?”He asked hopefully. 

The question brought her out of her momentary reverie. 

“Oh, uh, I have no idea where he is. I don’t even know if he’s still alive.” She said quietly. She sighed, “Oh by Tentei, this is not going to be easy. There’s a lot I haven't told you; about the war, my father, and the rebellion in Bun province.” she dropped the knife she was still holding and covered her face with her opened hands. 

“Enju staged a rebellion in Bun province!?” he exclaimed incredulously. “How, when, and why didn’t you tell me?!” 

She shook her head, “ I’m so sorry! I had no idea you were friends with my father!” she wiped away moisture that wasn’t quite tiars. “At first I thought you might have been an agent of the Grey Guard. Then... then it was just easier not to talk about it, and just have you think I was some random peasant instead of talking about what happened to my family and their failed rebellion. I didn’t want to think about it, about the day we were driven out of Iron Harvest and lot everything. ” She dropped her face back in to her hands again. “I’m sorry, Its a long story that doesn’t end well, alright.” 

She wasn’t crying, not yet at least, but It was obvious that she was close to tiars. 

Gyousou’s mind was reeling. Enju had fought against Asen after he’d been captured. And he’d lost. His families ancestral home in Iron harvest was gone. Chunghua, Enju’s loving wife, was dead. And now Enju’s daughter might be an orphan. 

(After all of that, she’s been left alone out here in the middle of nowhere to fend for herself for the past two winters. He thought. By Tentei indeed. )

“I see.” He said after a moment. It was clear that Whatever had happened had been traumatic. As much as he wanted to embrace her and offer some sort of reassurance. But what could he possibly say? 

Fang whimpered, instantly refocusing their attention. In that moment Hongyu forgot about her own distress and focused on Fang. Thy both bent over the prone form of Fang lying on the floor beside them. The dog looked up at then panting feebly as he weekly flopped his tail against the floor. 

“How bad is it?” Gyousou asked. 

Hongyu gently slicked the blood soaked fur away from the bite mark on the dog’s hind leg and examined the wound. 

“Well, it could be worse.” She said tensely. 

“Sokka, get the satchel over there.” She added distractedly, waving her had toward a corner of the house. “I’ll need to make a poultice to counter the kiki’s venom.” 

“Right.” He replied as he got to his feet. He went straight to the mound of furs he’d been using as a pillow and pulled out the brown leather satchel where she kept ointments and processed herbs. She’d kept the satchel near him in case of emergencies, like when his pneumonia had returned. 

“Here.” He said as he handed her the satchel.

“Thanks.” She said as she took it from him. She managed to give him a tired smile as she did so. She began bringing out bandages and creams to treat the wound.

Gyousou paused then as he stood back to watch her work on Fangs leg, “Lady Touda?” He ventured, using her formal title. 

She flinched slightly. “Yes?” She answered . 

“I’d still like some kind of explanation.”he said keeping his voice neutral. 

“An explanation about what?” She asked distractedly as she rummaged in the satchel. 

“About what happened earlier, about how you made that kiki explode, and about your talent, or whatever you call those abilities. The fact that you are a member of the Touda clan doesn’t explain how or why you can do what you did, and I’m very curious about it. ” He said while making an expansive gesture with his hands. 

“I know you don’t want to talk about what happened to your family but you did promise me an explanation.” 

She paused in her work, sat up and turned to look over her shoulder at him. She seemed somewhat fear full as she regarded him. Her eyes went to the sword sheathed at his hip.

“I’m thinking I should take it as a good sign that you don’t have that blade at my neck and aren't calling me a witch?” She said tentatively, trying to pass the question off as a joke. 

“Don’t be ridiculous! We both know you’re not a witch! ” He said ruefully, unable to keep a smirk of his face. 

She looked up at him with a tight thin-lipped smile. “Most people would be accusing me of that or worse, if they saw what you saw.” 

He rolled his eyes heavenward. He could understand why she would uneasy with him given the situation. But he’d thought they had moved past this. 

“I’m not most people.” He said bluntly. Then he shrugged. “Your powers are rather unusual, but what of it? You saved my life and literally got me back on my feet. During all the time I’ve known you you've been nothing but kind and decent to me. If you were going to do something sinister to me you've had ample opportunity to do that before now, and you haven't.” He said a bit testily. 

“Furthermore, Like I said I knew---” He stopped himself. He couldn't bring himself to talk about Enju in the past tense, not with out knowing for certain, and seeing the body first. If he started thinking that way about Enju he might start thinking about Risai and Taiki in the past tense as well. “I know your father,” he corrected himself, “and to a lesser extent your mother, they would not have raised you to be an evil person. So I think its rather obvious that you’re not a witch.” 

She blinked up at him, clearly taken aback somewhat by his impromptu tirade. “Oh...um.....Alright then.” She said. 

She turned her attention back to Fang and rummaged in the satchel. She pulled out a small canvas drawstring bag and removed a clean rage from it. as she tore off part of the rag and poured rubbing alcohol over it before using it to mop at Fang’s injury. She kept the larger pice of the rag on her lap as she worked. She worked silently for a what seemed like a long time. 

“It’s called ‘the fire ability’. ” She said abruptly.

“Really?” He asked. He found the simplistic name of the seemingly magical ability quite underwhelming. “Are there other members of the Touda clan who have this ‘fire ability’?” He asked curiously. 

She frowned, her brow furrowing. “Look, you realize that this is my family’s biggest secret. I really shouldn't be talking about this with you.” She said bitingly. 

Fang whimpered at the burning touch of the alcohol and tried to pull his leg away from her. Gyousou knelt down beside her and restrained Fang for her. 

“Easy boy. Everything is going to be fine.” He soothed as he held Fang. 

Fang lifted his head up and gave him a canine smile as he panted. 

“Yes, that’s a good boy.” Gyousou smiled back at the dog and stroked his head. 

Chughua, or rather Lady Touda, as he was beginning to think of her, let out a sigh.

Her shoulders slumped in resignation. 

“I suppose it really doesn’t matter now.” She sighed defeatedly. “Anyway, only a handful of people, besides me”, she clarified, “have, or had the fire ability, and they’re either dead or captured by now.” She said angrily as she gently cleaned Fang’s wound. 

“Did Enju have this ability?” Gyousou pressed as he stroked Fang. Enju had served as a scout and a spy during his career in the arial recon division, but Gyousou had never thought of him as a particularly secretive man. All the same his curiosity rose. 

“My father did’t have the fire ability to the extent that I do and my grandfather never trained him in the more advanced techniques like he did with me.” She explained. She pulled back the strands of hair that had fallen over her face. “ Basically the best he could do was generate something the size of a candle flame.” 

She tossed aside the blood and alcohol soaked rag. 

Gyousou looked away for a moment as he continued to stroke Fang’s head. “That makes sense.” He said distantly. 

“Come again?” She asked. 

“I know that the ability to light candles doesn’t seem particularly impressive, given what you did earlier, my Lady. But even the ability to conjure a small spark out of nothing is incredibly useful. Your father was able to go behind enemy lines with nothing more than a jug of oil and fire strikers and use arson to great affect against enemy targets. If he had the ability to generate small flames, this explained a few things. Especially his willingness and seeming ease with such flammable tactics.”

It had been her father’s knack for arson the had earned him the curtesy name ‘Enju’. Though, Gyousou couldn’t remember if it had been Gashin or Ganchou who’d given Enju his curtesy name. 

“Were you trained to use this ‘fire ability’ in combat?” he asked.

She didn’t answer immediatly. She turned away to rummage for supplies in the satchel. 

“Yes and no.” she said after a moment. She avoided making eye contact as she pulled a few items out. 

“My grandfather was training me in the use of my fire ability, but...” She paused again. “He focused on teaching me how to control it rather than fight with it. After he was captured I pretty much had to learn on my own. Even so, I’m better at using it than a few years ago.” 

She picked up the rag she’d left on her lap and folded it four times in to a square wide enough to cover the wound on fang’s leg. 

“However,” she turned to look at him, “I can’t just snap my fingers and set whatever I want ablaze, like the sorcerers in one of the epic poems.” She snapped her fingers for emphasis. “ And I'm pretty sure that shit is mostly made up anyway.” She muttered cynically. 

“I lack the skill to use long range attacks with any real accuracy...” She turned away from him and glared at the far wall. “Anyway, I can use it in tandem with conventional weapons or as a short range attack.” 

She poured clear liquid form an earthen wear jar on to a clean square of cloth. She put the jar down and set the cloth back down on her lap. 

“What are you talking about? You didn’t seem to have any problem shooting the kiki down with your arrows.”

She unbound a few leather and cloth bundles revealing jars of glass or terra cotta filled with dried or powder herbs. Her brows knitted in frustration as she frowned at him. 

“Yes, that’s because I was using my arrows. I wasn’t just lobbing blobs of fire at them.” 

He raised and eyebrows at her in confusion. 

She sighed. 

“Setting fire to a projectile weapon is different. I’m aiming the weapon not the fire itself. “ she pantomimed reliving an arrow from a bow. “ I can aim an arrow with a greater degree of control than I can a fire ball. A great airy ball of fire isn’t the easiest thing in the world to aim.”

“So you set your weapons on fire?” He asked. It didn't make sense. You couldn’t just set arrows on fire and expect them to fly perfectly. Also the fletching on her arrows had been untouched by the flames when it embedded in the kiki’s eye socket. 

Hongyu rolled here eyes, “ It’s not so much that I set the arrow on fire, its more like I tie the fire to the arrow or I sort of set the fire on the arrow to a degree. If I don’t do it right the arrow will simply ignite like any pice of kindling and burn to nothing before it hits it’s target. Or if I don't set the fire strong enough it will be snuffed out before it hits the target. But if I do it right the fire wont damage the arrow significantly for a few moments. Giving it enough time to carry the fire to the target.”

“You make it sound like some sort of magic.” He said mildly. 

She sighed. “ I suppose it sounds that way. And maybe that’s because I’m not explaining it very well. But it’s defiantly NOT magic! It’s more like doing a calculation involving the distance and arrow needs to travel, the force needed to propel it that distance, and the energy needed to sustain flames over that distance. And then applying the answer to that calculation before reliving the arrow from the bow.”

“You realize that still sounds like magic, right?” He retorted.  
She selected a few powders and some leaves for the herbs she’d set in front of her. 

She frowned, her eyes still fixed on her work. “Trust me, it really isn’t.” She growsed. 

She took a few deep breaths. 

“Even now that I’ve mastered something this basic, I’m still wielding something extremely hot and dangerous. Fire tends to splash, and spread where you don't want it to be. When I use my ability, I have to think about every thing around me that’s combustable, trees, dry grass, houses......And people. Throwing fire around with out being able to aim effectively cam be... well you get the idea.” She said exasperatedly. 

“I can project flames, but that can be very problematic and dangerous. So I can use it in combat but given my lack of training I try not to rely on it. Its more a weapon of last resort. ” She continued more seriously as she, placed the herbs between the layers of wet cloth before using both hands to press the newly made poultice against the bleeding bite would on Fang’s leg. 

“I see.” Gyousou sighed (Perhaps it’s better that she views her powers as more dangerous that useful.) “Yes,” he said out loud, “that makes sense.”

She let out a short directive laugh. “I’ve certainly never made a Yoma explode before.” 

“Really? I wouldn’t have guessed.” he said teasingly. “Didn’t you go on yoma hunts with you r family. I thought that was something young noble women did.” 

“Well of corse I went on yoma hunts!” he said as she drew herself up in mock indignity. 

“During those hunts I learned how to set fire to my arrows and...” She tried off. “...other stuff. ” She looked away sadly 

She continued use both hands to apply pressure to the dog’s wound.

Fang was breathing easier now and felt much more relaxed beneath Gyousou’s hands. 

“Could you get the bandages out of the satchel for me, Sokka?” she asked after a moment tilting her head in the direction of the satchel beside her. “I have to keep this in place.” She explained. 

“Of course lady Touda.” He said absently as he moved beside her and pulled out a large roll of clean bandages. He knew she was deflecting but he was content to waight for her to answer. 

He noticed that she flinched again when he used her title. 

He offered her the bandaging with one hand and gently placed his other hand over hers on the poultice, nonverbally indicating that he would hold in ton place as she bandaged the dog’s leg. 

She nodded in acknowledgement and took the bandaging form him. 

“Technically, I haven’t been fully trained. There are techniques for effectively using my ability form a distance that my grandfather wasn’t able to teach me.” 

she began wrapping Fangs leg with bandages that would hold the poultice in place.

“Didn’t you have other family members who could teach you?” 

“Yes, but the fire ability in rare in my family, and the number of people who can use advance techniques are even rarer. Most of the people who could have taught me were captured or worse when our main house in the capital was attacked. Others were sent abroad to En, Ryou, or Kei, in order to ensure our clan’s survival.” 

He adjusted the placement of his hands as she wrapped another layer of bandaging over the poultice. 

“You can move your hands now. I need to tie the bandage off.” She said after a moment. 

He took his ands away and reached over he stroke Fang’s head again. “Will he be alright?” he asked concernedly.

“He’ll be running around and terrorizing squirrels again once he gets some rest.” She assured him. “I was able to get the poultice on him before the venom had time to spared. So, he’ll be fine.” 

Reassured he stood up and began to survey his surroundings taking in the damaged state of the house. “That’s good, we’ll need to move soon.”

“What about you? Are you alright?” She asked.

He turned to her confused.

“You were gripping your side and looked like you were going to pass out earlier.” She explained. 

“It was just a cramp, I’m fine now.” He said dismissively. “It’s been a wile sense I’ve run so much, that’s all.”

“Are you sure? non of then bit or scratched you during the fight?” she said. Her blue eyes were full of concern. 

“Yes, I was just winded that’s all.” he assured her. “What about you?” 

Hongyu took a moment to look herself over. the kiki had ripped her clothing with their teeth and claws but they hand’t pierced her skin. the thought fabric of her jacket and pants and been enough to prevent that. 

She sighed with relief seeing that she was uninjured. 

He stood up carefully, the act of standing up made him lightheaded for a moment but the feeling passed quickly. He turned away form her carefully stepping over a decapitated kiki as he walked to the door. There were two more dead kiki piled in the broken doorway. He kicked them aside and looked around outside. The noon day sun shown brightly down on the clearing beyond. 

“They have gone off in search of eaiser pray, but they won’t forget about us. I expect that they will return come night fall.” He said grimly. “We won’t survive another attack if we stay here.” 

“I think you’re right.” She sighed. “There’s a Yaboku to the north of here. We should be able to make it there with in a few hours on foot. If we can get there before night fall we should be safe for the night.” 

“That sounds good, my Lady.” he said as he leaned against the door frame. 

Hongyu stood up and moved beside him. “Give me your hand for a moment.” 

“Why?” 

She huffed, “I want to check your pulse.” She looked away some what abashed. “I just want to make sure your alright.”

He offered her his hand. She pulled down his glove and set her her middle and pointer fingers against the veins on the inside of his wrist. 

“Your pulse is elevated, you should rest for a wile. that and you’re probably still exhausted.” she moved over the the barrel in the corner, which was amazingly still upright. 

“As much as I’d like to rest we really don’t have that luxury.” He insisted. 

She came back with two cups of water, “Here.” she said as she thrust one in to his hand, “You need this as much as I do.” she took a long drink from her own cup and then knelt down by Fang and offered the half full cup to him. The dog lapped at it greedily. 

She stood back up and walked over to stand beside him. “ I said it will only take a few hours for us to reach the Yaboku. A few moments isn’t going to kill us. besides:” she began to hold up her fingers one at a time as she listed reasons. “First; fang is going to need some rest before he’s ready to walk on that leg and we will move faster if we don’t have to carry him. Second; we’ll need some time to organize our supplies anyway. Third; if we leave now and head off into the woods as exhausted as we are well be easy pray for any kiki that are still hanging around.” She folded her arms and glared at him. 

He chuckled despite himself. He couln’t help it; she reminded him so much of her mother in that instant. 

“Fine. You win.” he said as he slid down the wall and seated himself so that he could look out the door. 

“Good, I’ll start getting our supplies together.” She said as she turned around and surveyed the inside of the house. 

“That sounds like a good idea , my lady.” He said absently.he didn’t want to admit just how tired he was and he was grateful for an excues to sit down. He narrowed his eyes as he spotted tracks leading off to the south of the house.

He turned back in to the house and found her standing a few feet away and glaring at him. 

“One more thing; you need to stop addressing me as ‘Lady Touda’!” She said angrily. 

“Why?” He asked curiously. 

She gestured around the room. “Because I’m not a lady! At least not anymore anyway.” She sighed, and rolled he eyes heavenward. “The Touda clan’s property and assets were ceased by the throne, or the Bun provincial authorities. So, I’m not the heiress of anything, except my family’s name!”She let out an exasperated growl as she covered her face with her hand. “And that’s been well and truly dragged through the mud at this point.” She added darkly. She sighed, “Hearing you address me with that meaningless title is really annoying.”

He raised an eyebrow at her in confusion. “How should I address you then?” 

“I told you my name’s Hongyu.” She jabbed a finger at him for emphasis. “And before you start talking about protocol or whatever, I’d like to point out that a lieutenant with survival training out ranks a civilian woman with questionable noble status in a situation like this. Or, at least that’s how I see it. So you can call me Hongyu, or just Touda if you don’t like using my birth name, but drop the honorific or I’m going back to calling you lieutenant.” She groused. 

He blinked, “You don’t have a curtesy name?” He asked. 

She let out a short huff of breath that blew a few strands of tawny hair out of her face. “No.” 

“But you’re old enough to have one.” 

“Bah!” She said as she waved her hand dismissively. “These days most women are given their curtesy name after they get married. What with there being a war and all I never got around to it.” She shrugged. 

He cracked a smile. “Very well then, Touda.” He punctuated this by bowing his head. 

“Oh heaven above don’t bow!” She yelled in disgust. “I just said you out rank me here!” 

(How right she is). He thought. He couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle.

He turned to her. “I mentioned it before but Enju, your father, was a comrade and friend of mine. We kept in touch even after he left the service. I’d like to—“ he stoped. “No, I need to know what’s happened to my friend and his clan in the last six years while I was in prison.”

She sighed. “Well it’s a long and rather depressing story. And it ends with my mother dying and me left out here alone.” 

“I Understand. However, I still need to know what’s happened. And, as you pointed out we should rest for a bit before we get underway so it seems we have some time to go over a long and depressing story.” 

She sighed. “Your right, I suppose I should tell you the whole story.” 

() ()()())()())()()()()())()()()()()()()()

6 years ago. Kouki (Tai’s capital) 

It was a cloudless early spring morning. A pair of sparrows chased each other across the bright blue sky. 

There had been a snow storm the night before, which had left a thick but rapidly melting blanket of snow over the city below. 

The Touda Clan’s main house was nestled among the sprawling estates of it’s nine branch families in the wealthiest district of Kouki. It was a massive mansion that seemed to shine in the bright sun light. The melting snow covering its peaked roofs, covered walkways and walls only seemed to intensify its bright splendor. 

A gentle, but not particularly warm breeze rustled thorough the ornamental trees in the garden behind the grand mansion. Snow fell from the trees in wet clumps, silently dropping in to the melting snow drifts below, revealing small green leaf buds on the bare branches. 

The slim figure of a teenage girl in grungy clothing moved among the snow covered plants and decorative buildings of the garden. She hummed a cheerful tune as she practically skipped down the flag stone path. She held a bucket in her left hand filled with oblong objects, each no bigger then a quail’s egg. 

Sixteen year old Tauda Hongyu could have been mistaken for a servant as she walked along the garden path. She was clad in ragged work clothing, consisting of a short sleeved buff colored hanfu that came down to her hips, and sturdy brown pants that were covered in old soot stains. She wore a blacksmiths heavy leather apron over her clothing and had her bright orange hair bound back in a brown scarf. 

Her breath misted in the air before her and she sauntered along the path that led to the workshop at the back of the garden. 

She was in an excellent mood this morning. The seed pods in her bucket came from an unusual plant that had started showing up around the riboku of every district in the city. In fact this thorny brier like plant had been sprouting up around every reboku in every village and town all over Tai. From what she’d been hearing the seedpods of this plant , when dried out, would burn like charcoal. 

This plant was originally native to the yellow sea, the vast yoma filled desert at the center of the world. But upon taking the throne Gyousou had prayed to the gods to grant his people a variant of this plant that would grow in Tai. Theoretically he’d been thinking that this plant would provide his people with a fuel source that could get them through through Tai’s harsh winters. But Hongyu saw it’s more wide reaching potential. This was after all a Fuel source that was ridiculously cheep and easy to obtain. And if it could truly be used as a substitute for charcoal.....

It sounded fantastical, so naturally she had to conduct her own experiments to see if there was any truth at all to the stories she’d heard. 

The path lead over a small decorative bridge that arched elegantly over a narrow part of the gardens sprawling koi pond. She paused as she stood in the center of the bridge and looked down into the dark water. Presently a cream and orange fish rose drowsily to the surface. It peered up ad her curiously. It’s scales glittered in the early morning sunlight as it glided beneath the water. Hongyu smiled down at the large koi. She couldn't help but smile thinking how the fish’s bright orange scales were similar to her own vividly orange hair. 

“They say that a koi who fights it’s way up a waterfall can turn in to a dragon, if it jumps high enough.” She said to no one in particular. A wicked smile crossed her face. “And I plan to jump pretty damned high!” 

She looked northward toward the towering ryuren mountain that rose like a pillar from the center of the city. 

Hongyu was eager to experiment with the unusual plant’s seed pods and see if there was any truth about it’s use as a substitute for charcoal. If half of what she herd was true than the process of smelting iron ore, and turning it in to steal, hell, any sort of metalworking might just have gotten a whole lot less expensive. 

(Which, of course, means that exporting steel and other manufactured metal items just got a lot cheeper.) She thought in triumph as she clenched her right hand in to a fist.

“Tai will no longer depend on the revenue form the water gem trade! Every kingdom in the world will be clamoring at our door for inexpensive steel and high quality manufactured devices!” 

“Soon Tai will be the kingdom known for it’s superior craftsmanship! Those jewelry smiths in Han can suck it!” She proclaimed to the empty garden before indulging in a bout of mad laughter. “MAW HA HA HA HA HA HA!”

Then she checked herself, and looked around to make sure no one had seen or herd her. 

(In any case,) she thought somewhat embarrassedly, (My plans will only come to fruition if these seed pods burn the way they are supposed to.) 

She suddenly looked toward the ryuren mountain to the north. The mountain rove out of the earth like a great pillar that seamlessly blurred in to the sky. She wasn’t sure what made her look up, it might have been a sound carried on the wind or a reverberation she felt threw her feet. Or maybe it was the rising wind. 

The ryuren mountain was the divine mountain whose peek pierced the heavens. It’s summit rose like an island in the sea of clouds to provide the foundation for White Jewel palace, the royal residence of the king of Tai and the Taiho, the kirin of Tai, also known as Taiki. The king had left to quell a rebellion in bun province tow weeks ago but the Taiho was still in residence. 

Hongyu squinted up at the peak of the mountain right where it blurred out of sight and vanished in to the heavens beyond. Something unusual was happening. There was an odd shimmering in the sky. There was a swirling in the air around the mountain. The sky had been absolutely cloudless but suddenly it was as if someone had splashed droplets of ink in to clear water. Coiling plumes of darkness were rapidly flowing outward from the mountain’s summit. All around the circumference of the peak there was an odd shimmering radiance, like iridescent bath salts in a wash basin. 

(There’s a storm above the sea of clouds.) The teenage girl realized. The wind kicked up in intensity causing her pant legs to flap about her ankles and tugging at the sleeves of her shirt. She flung her bucket aside and raised her arms to should her face. 

Then there was a sound like immense stones breaking. An impossible crack of thunder that shook the very foundation of the city itself . The earth beneath her shook. The ominous black swirls turned the sky a dirty shade of red where it had been a clear blue a moment ago.  
(A Shoku!) She realized as she fell to her knees. She continued staring up at the mountain, the very foundation open which the kingdom’s seat of power rested, as the reality warping storm raged around it. 

Shouku were incredibly dangerous phenomena. A storm that tore reality asunder and could momentarily connect this world with the mythical world where the kingdom of Hourie, also known as Japan resided. 

She had seen a shouku once before. She had been in a coastal town in Ran province and she’d been about to watch a shouku that was a few miles out at sea. Even with the storm miles away the experience was both exhilarating and terrifying. The shouku had caused a storm surge that made an enormous title wave that had destroyed many of the buildings along the water line and had utterly demolished all the boats and docks along the coast. 

Those ominous black clouds swirled, condensed, then coiled and spasmed around the mountain To Hongyu it looked like a fist clenched tight around the mountain, no around the palace at the top of the mountain. The glittering swirls that surrounded it were the lashing waves of the sea of clouds that beat at the sides of the island like peak. 

Even as she watched chunks were breaking off and falling the impossible distance to crash down among the buildings and parks at the base of the mountain. From where she stood in one of the the more distant districts form the peak she could see the rising plumes of dust form the impact sites. 

Her eyes widened in gaping horror. How many extinguished lives did those rising dust clouds represent. A new gust hit her. It might have blown her off her feet if she hand’t already dropped to her knees. The windows of the manor rattled in their frames. 

(A shock wave, from the chunks that hit the ground.) She thought. 

Presently she heard the voice of a man calling for her. She turned to look over her shoulder and found Gouxi, the manners major duomo running toward her trying to fight against the wind. 

“Lady Hongyu!” he cried. “You must come inside immediately! It’s not safe out here!” the middle aged man with salt an pepper hair called to her.

(Not safe? Really, no shit!) She thought. But even as she thought that, she fount that she was rooted to the spot. Not because she was paralyzed from fear but because kneeling here in the garden was about as safe as she would be any where else in the capital with the supernatural storm raging above he mountain. If she was going to be n danger any way she may as well be somewhere with a view. 

Just as suddenly as it began, it ended. The wind died down. The sky cleared and became blue once more. The sinister shimmering of the turbulent sea of clouds abated. All was normal once more. 

Gouxi ran over to his mistress and protectively threw his arms around her shoulders. 

“Lady Houngyu! Are you alright? Are you hurt any where?” 

Hongyu realized that she was shivering like a leaf. She managed to nod to the man servant. “I’m all right...” , she managed dazedly. 

But she really wants’ she wasn’t sure what had just happened but she knew what ever it was , it had just shattered something irreversibly. 

Next Chapter - Fate of the Touda Clan.

()()())))())())())()()()()())())

\-----Disclaimer-----  
Gnchou, Gashin, and Eishou are all Fuyumi Onon’s original characters. they play minor roles in “Shore in Twilight” and one of her short stories “Winter Splendor”. I’ve taken some liberties with their characterizations. Also I’ve based their appearances off of the wonderful fan art of an artist who’s posted fan art on pixiv, which is basically the Japanese version of deviant art. This artist goes by ” 晋青緑 ” I stubbed on to their blog by accident. 

if any one is interested here’s the link to their gallery . https://www.pixiv.net/en/users/125909/artworks. ---- and here---- https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/69741513

They also had their own blog for a wile, it looks like it was taken down but here’s link to a pice of their fan art featuring all the Tai characters. here’s the address: http://suikarou.soragoto.net/treasure/sinaomidorisama/outorokusyougun.html

()()()()()()()()()()()()

Enju is a courtesy name -- his given/familial/ birth name is Shuang- (爽)- (bright / clear/ open-hearted/ straightforward/ frank) . I don’t know if that's going to be all that relevant. Also I got the name from Cao Shuang who was a general/ politician of the car state in Southern china. 

Here's a link if any one would like to read about this guy. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cao_Shuang

Also in the first scene of this chapter every one refers to each other by their courtesy names, not their family names. I just wanted to make that clear. 

Also I can’t seem to find any concrete info about conventions for courtesy names, or weather it was normal for women to have them back in the day. I did find some info about how back in Medieval China women usually received courtesy names after they were married or just didn’t get courtesy names at all. As receiving a courtesy name was considered a mile stone and an acknowledgment of a Man’s becoming an adult, I'm thinking that this hole women not getting courtesy names can be chalked up to good old sexism. So, instead of stressing over coming up with a good courtesy name for Hongyu I figured I'd bypass the issue and go with her just not having been given one. 

There are at least two female characters in the twelve kingdoms Yoko, (courtesy name Sekishi) and Shoukei( familial/birth name Sanshou) but both of them are Royle, so yeah. Not sure if it’s normal for non- royal women to have courtesy names. I am going to assume that It’s a normal thing for women to have curtesy names in this world, because seriously why wouldn’t they?

Also it took me a wile to figure out HOW Hongyu would describe her powers to Gyousou. That’s mainly what took me so long to get this chapter out. I couldn’t just have her explain her powers in terms of the law of conservation of energy or thermo-dynamics. First that would be boring, and second I’m not sure how much of that your average imperial soldier would understand. Physics in general would be a very specialized field in a fantasy world like this, so I couldn’t go that rout. Also I decided that in this first conversation Gyousou would be more interested in What she can do, rather than how she did it. That’s a conversation for later on. 

()()()()()()()(  
One more thing- “Hills of Silver Ruins, A Black Moon” or just “Hills of Silver Ruins” has been partly translated by Eugene Woodbury. This is the sequel to “Shore in twilight” I recommend that you give it a read. At the time I'm writing this he has the book up to chapter 7 translated. 

\- here’s the link - http://www.eugenewoodbury.com/moon/

**Author's Note:**

>   
> Go easy on me this is the first fan fic I've published. Also I'm legit Dyslexic so there are going to be misspelled words. So, fair warning.  
> This is the story of what happened in Tai during the events of “The Shore in Twilight”. That story focuses on Risai and most of the characters people who watched the anime will be familiar with, like Yoko and Shouryuu for example. But I wanted to write a story about Gyousou, because he gets talked about a lot, but he barley gets any scenes in the novels or the anime for that matter. Just to give my dear readers some context as to why I wrote this. Also if you haven't read "Shore in Twilight" I recommend you go read Eugene Woodbury's translation. Here's the link.  
> http://eugenewoodbury.blogspot.com/2009/04/the-twelve-kingdoms-novels.html  
> 


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